Menbud Fadli Zon Optimistic That Indonesia Can Become A Land Of A Thousand Museums

Minister of Culture Fadli Zon when met by the media at the National Museum, Jakarta, Monday night. (ANTARA / Princess Hanifa)

JAKARTA - Indonesia, with its cultural wealth and extraordinary history, has great potential to become a "one thousand museums." This nickname reflects the ambition to present museums across the country, both in big cities and remote areas, as a forum for preserving cultural heritage, education, and public entertainment.

This effort is not only aimed at increasing the number of museums, but also improving their quality in order to reflect Indonesia's diversity and cultural wealth optimally.

The Minister of Culture of Indonesia, Fadli Zon, expressed great hope for the future of the museum world in the country. He expressed his vision to make Indonesia a country of a thousand museums, in line with the spirit carried by the Indonesian Museum Association Community.

Fadli Zon emphasized that the focus of museum development is not only on quantity but also quality. According to him, the increasing number of museums will be the first step to gradually improve the quality of the museum.

"The quantity is important, but quality is much more important. However, if we already have adequate quantity, we can improve the quality slowly," said Fadli Zon at the National Museum, Jakarta, Monday night.

To realize this vision, Fadli said that the Ministry of Culture plans to hold various trainings for museum managers and curators. This program will involve cooperation with international institutions to strengthen museum management standards in Indonesia. The National Museum, as one of the main museums in Indonesia, will be used as a reference to improve the quality of regional and private museums.

Fadli also highlighted that the number of existing museums, which ranges from 400, is still far from sufficient to represent Indonesia's cultural wealth. He revealed that until now there are still many types of museums that are not yet available, such as a representative museum of photography or music museums.

"The current number of museums is not enough to reflect our cultural diversity. For example, there is no museum of photography yet, a representative music museum is also not available. We still have a lot of homework to do," said Fadli.

However, he is optimistic that the number and type of museums in Indonesia will continue to grow. Several new museums that have been opened, such as the Tan Malaka Museum, the Indonesian Literature Museum, and the Taman Leang-Leang Museum, are concrete steps in realizing this vision.

Fadli Zon also emphasized the importance of equitable distribution of museum development throughout Indonesia. He mentioned that several new museums will soon be built outside Java, such as in Bali and Sumbawa. Examples are the Sarkofagus Museum and open museums designed to provide a different experience to visitors.

To support the construction of the museum, Fadli emphasized the need for cooperation between the public and private sectors. He suggested a public-private partnership scheme as a solution for financing, so that it does not rely entirely on government budgets.

"We need to involve the private sector, individuals, and even villages to contribute. Not all of them have to go through the state budget. Support from the private sector and society is very important," concluded Fadli Zon.