Improving Museum Role on Public Education and Awareness:
Case Study of Museum Negeri NTB
by Yuniarti Wahyuningtyas
A. Background on Museum Negeri NTB (State Museum NTB)
As per April 2019, i am hired by UNDP as their Community Mobilization Officer to support the rehabilitation and reconstruction project in Mataram, NTB. Like any other of field assignments that i have taken, i usually spent few days adapting with the local settings and mingle with the communities. There was a traditional idiom in our country known as "Dimana Bumi Dipijak, Disitu Langit Dijunjung", in other words is where ever we go, we have to respect the local traditions. I have managed to install GoJek App (as a Criminologist/DRR Practitioner/Defense Contrator, i believe that social media and application have the tendencies ruins the social construction of our societies, so yeah i am a bit old school when comes to the apps, but not anti tech-since i am good at web design, mapping, etc), found guest house to crash in for few days, and more permanent place or studio apartment room for settle in.
When i got assignment in the field office, my first destination would be visiting their local museum. So here i am at Mataram City, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) for 6 months assignment and onward (hopefully). There is only 1 museum in this city, which is the Museum Negeri NTB. The museum is located in Jalan Panji Tilar Negara No.6, Mataram (8'584799'S, 116'085947'E), and it was launched in 2000 under the management of Education and Tourism Bureau of NTB Province. The museum has its vision as the information window for knowledge and science. Its missions are: 1) to collect, research, maintain, preserve, and display cultural and scientific artifacts, 2) to introduce and disseminate the cultural and scientific artifacts, 3) to provide assistant on cultural education and presenting creative artifacts with cultural and scientific values, and 4) to manage library and scientific research documentation, as well administrative matters.
The museum has around 50 staff and 35 out of the staff are civil servants. There is no museum specialist, historian, curator, librarian or any other technical experts in this museum. Most of the staff are generalist. No training have been provided by the national or local government to improve the capacity of the museum staff. The museum also does not have special and specific program that are developed to increase the visitors and attracts interest of particular donor or partner. Most of the program are in line and supporting the national and local governments program.
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| In front of the Permanent Exhibition Building |
The museum entry fee cost 4,000 IDR or around 25 cents. There are 5 building blocks around the museum compound, which include: the permanent exhibition room, the temporary exhibition room, the auditorium room (which is being reconstructed due to major EQ 2018), the secretariat room, and the storage room. The room that is fully functioned so far is the permanent exhibition room with total width 340m that is divided into 2 parts: The Permanent Exhibition 1 and Permanent Exhibition II.
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| Map of the Museum Compound |
B. The Museum Negeri NTB Collection
As the museum is categorized as General Museum, means that the collections that are displayed in the museum are general, mostly represent the culture and tradition of NTB. In total the museum has around 7,698 collections that are classified into 10 types of collections: geological, biological, ethnographically, archaeological, historical, numismatic, philological, keramology, technology, and art. From thousands collections, only 10% out of them that are displayed in the museum. The theme of the permanent exhibition is "Natural and Cultural Heritage as the source of History and Science".
At the Permanent Exhibition Room, which is divided into 2 parts, the collections that are displayed represented several sub-themes, include:
1. The Permanent Exhibition I:
a. The Natural Potential of NTB - in here you can find explanation on the geological and volcanology of NTB. There are some example of rocks and soils, as well display of Rinjani and Tambora Mountains.
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The Permanent Exhibition 1 -Natural Potential of NTB |
b. An Introduction to Flora and Fauna of NTB - in this corner, you can find specific species in NTB that are taxidermy. If you bring your kids with you, they will amaze with the preserved alligator in the middle of the room :)
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| The Permanent Exhibition I -Flora and Fauna NTB |
2. The Permanent Exhibition II:
a. The History of Struggle of NTB Society - the collections consist of tradition weaponry and war map. The one that attracted me most is the medieval chainmail shirt that reminded me of the Knight Templar since it looks similar to it.
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| chainmail, helmet, and remaining rifle |
b. Knowing and Understanding The Language and Written Alphabets of NTB - in this corner, you will find the traditional script that is using in the NTB, as well some ancient writing tools
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| The traditional script in NTB is influenced by many other traditions in the same island, as well Arabic |
c. The Society Economic System - NTB, like most of the areas in Indonesia, the communities are depending their livelihood from agriculture and fisheries. In this part of the museum corner, you can find a diorama that described the living condition of the traditional fishermen.
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| It can look real at night |
d. The Development of Equipment and Technology in NTB - the collection in this part of the museum shows various types and techniques in developing their craft, including traditional weaponry.
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| Diorama of local community who are making traditional sword |
e. Arts as Medium for Entertainment, Creativity, and Information - various arts represented NTB can be found here, such as wooden horse, shadow puppet, etc.
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| wooden horse or known as Jaran Praja, which is used as part of the traditional dance played by the boys |
f. The History of Religion and Belief - In every countries you can always find Saman, hHealer, Sorcerer, Witch or others. Same like in other place, in NTB, the ancient communities were influenced with the traditional belief or dynamism and animism. You can find some of the crafts that were using for the ritual as part of the display
g. Traditional Ritual as Manifestation of Local wisdom and Instilling of Social and Cultural Values - various ethnics clothes and their traditional or local crafts are also part of the exhibition. Surprisingly in some of the display, if you keep your eyes wide open, you will find old jewels made from gold that are also display here.
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| Guess which bride costume that have jewels made from gold? |
In the Permanent Exhibition II there is a special room named Khasanah Room. This room stored master pieces collections or heritages treasures from Bima Sultanate, Dompu Sultanate, Sumbawa Sultanate, and Bali Kingdom that located in Lombok. The collections in this room are all original and made from pure golds or a mix between it. It was closed during the time i visited the museum due to rehabilitation post EQ. Despite the fact that the room stored precious and high valuable items, yet the security measure is loose. The entry door to the collection room is protected only with cell door. No alarm, CCTV, nor heat censor that can prevent any thieves from stealing.
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| Khasanah Room - Heritage Collection made from gold and other high value materials, originate from the Sultanates |
C. Museum Construction and Risk Reduction
Physical Condition of Museum Post Earthquake 6.4 SCR
I am not an engineer, however once you look at the museum wall, you will realize that the building is sturdy. The damages caused by the 6.4 SCR EQ on July 2018 had effected other parts of the museum compound, such as auditorium and few part of museum roofing. Some reconstruction works are being done that is expected to be completed on June 2019. The reconstruction cost is covered by the Ministry of Public Works and People Settlement, post EQ an assessment on damages was done by the ministry with the Government of Australia. Despite the reconstruction process, in overall the museum looks pretty clean.
Security of Interior, Exterior, Lighting, and Facilities of the Museum
The lighting inside the museum is quite dark, the air conditioners are on but not cold, and some cables are spreading around hanging above the ceiling. All collection are stored inside glass wooden boxes, well preserve, but the placement of collection boxes are scattered. There are several medium size fire extinguisher which are hanged in the wall. They look heavy and in case of fire, it would be difficult for the staff to pull them out the wall. No sign of evacuation map, or assembly point found in inside or outside the museum. There are some tags from the collections that are missing, such as the canon, in front of the permanent exhibition building. In regards to the high value from several collections, it would be necessary to install CCTV, alarm, or censor. Surely we do not want another case of gold collections missing, like the ones that happened in 2010 in Museum Sonobudoyo.
Disaster Risk Management of Museum
As the museum is prone to various disasters, such as fire and earthquake, therefore disaster risk management plan and the emergency SOP should be developed, the staff should be well trained, drill and simulation should also be conducted, and the public visitors should be raised their awareness in securing and maintain the collections. As the collections of the museum are not moving objects, the staff need to be more proactive in guiding the visitors, no need to ask them whether they want to be guided or not. several objects, such as diorama, warfare corner, and geological sub-theme can be improved by using technology, such as audio visual, augmentation reality, and others. The museum can also opens its own souvenir shops as well cafe that can offer and provide range of traditional foods and merchandise. It can be operated as One Stop Centre. However, based on the brief discussion that i had with Mr Hubert or Ubet, it seems that budget is the main problem for the museum to implement and improve its performance. Another reason, is also related to the ownership of the museum at the high level managerial.
Conclusion and Recommendation
Beside all issues identified above, the museum also needs to attract more visitors (the number of visitor during the peak season after the school test can reach about 2,000-3,000 visitors per month or 75,000/year, or only 0.30% compare to National Museum Jakarta with 240,000 visitors per year). When i went there, there were only a group of family and myself that were touring inside the museum. Some activity such as drawing competition, museum roadshow, and tradition costume competition have been done as strategies to attract them. However, it would be necessary to gain support from international partner for further improvement of the museum and its staff. Night at Museum, Museum Vlog, and Museum Application are the easiest and simplest ways that can be used as starting points to another intervention. Surely these kind of activities can gain interest from national and local partner, including private sectors.
Sadly not all people interest in museum, art or culture, after spending 3 days in NTB i notice that most of the people have more interest on culinary or beach. Through this blog, i wish that you can help the Museum Negeri NTB in small or big kind of way.
Sadly not all people interest in museum, art or culture, after spending 3 days in NTB i notice that most of the people have more interest on culinary or beach. Through this blog, i wish that you can help the Museum Negeri NTB in small or big kind of way.
For more details about the museum:
Website: https://museumnegerintb.com
Email: museumntb@gmail.com
Instagram: @museumntb
Twitter@museumntb
Facebook: Museum Negeri Provinsi NTB
Contact Person: Mr Hubert (+6282147820056/+62370 632159)
