The National Museum Collaborates With France-Netherlands For Historic Collection Recovery After The Fire

Several statues of the post-fire National Museum collection are currently on temporary storage shelves at the National Museum, Jakarta, Wednesday (20/9/2023). ANTARA/HO-Kemendikbudristek

JAKARTA - Acting (Plt) Head of the Ahmad Mahendra Museum and Cultural Heritage (MCB) stated that his party prioritized the recovery of the collection of historical post-fire objects that hit the National Museum Building A on Saturday, September 16 evening.

"We are currently in the process of identifying, analyzing the extent of damage, cleaning and handling of early-stage conservation," he said in a statement in Jakarta, Wednesday, September 20, which was confiscated by Antara.

The General Infrastructure and Facilities Management Team (PPSU), which is part of the Special Team for Handling the Indonesian National Museum Unit (MNI), conducted an inventory process and data collection of affected historical objects.

Mahendra said hundreds of collections of historical objects had been successfully evacuated to temporary storage areas and were investigated for the extent of damage experienced.

From the affected historical objects, the collection that has been successfully evacuated and researched on Tuesday 19 September is a collection of Bronze Gallerys.

"Some of the collections found are still quite intact and can be identified immediately," he said.

In the context of recovery, the Special Team for Handling the MNI Unit will work together and involve conservator experts, archaeologists, anthropologists, culture, history, curators, and academics to prepare MNI recovery plans in the future.

The main concern of this collaboration is also aimed at improving the security system and securing collections of historical objects located in all museums and cultural heritages in Indonesia.

The special team also opened communication with various parties to carry out recovery, including with partners from abroad such as the French Government as the experience of its experts in handling the recovery of the historic collection of the Notre-Dame fires in Paris in 2019.

"We have also discussed with the Dutch government various aspects of recovery, especially regarding the construction of cultural heritage buildings and collection management," said Mahendra.