Special Team Identifies Post-Fire Bronze Collections at the National Museum

Timsus Identification Of Post-Fire Bronze Collection At National Museum/ Photo: IST

JAKARTA - The special team (timsus) handling the National Museum of Indonesia unit continues to carry out the process of inventorying and collecting data on the collection of affected historical objects. Currently, hundreds of collections of historical objects have been successfully evacuated to temporary storage.

The level of damage to the collection of historical objects that were evacuated to temporary storage is still being investigated.

"We are still in the process of identifying, analyzing the level of damage, cleaning and handling conservation in the initial stages," said Acting Head of the Museum and Cultural Heritage Public Services Agency (BLU MCB), Ahmad Mahendra in an official statement received by VOI, Wednesday, 20 September.

Mahendra said that from the collection of historical objects that were affected, a special team had evacuated to carry out research on the collection from the bronze gallery.

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

Mahendra explained that currently his party is still carrying out the recovery stage. The special team handling the National Museum of Indonesia unit will work together and involve conservators, archaeologists, anthropologists, culture, historians, curators and academics to prepare plans for the future recovery of MNI.

"This collaboration is to improve the security system and safeguard collections of historical objects in all museums and cultural heritage sites in Indonesia," he said.

As previously reported, Central Jakarta Metro Police Chief, Kombes Komarudin, said that the joint team needed a very long time to set aside items and move them to a temporary storage room from the fire scene at the National Museum of Indonesia.

"So we have moved the rescued (collections and historical objects) to a temporary room," said Kombes Komarudin to reporters, Tuesday, September 19.

Timsus Identifies Post-Fire Bronze Collection at the National Museum/ Photo: IST

The police also limit any activity inside the burning object. The reason is, at the location of the fire there were many very valuable historical items that had to be secured.

"This is part of the security concept that we have prepared. We ensure that the items in the 6 rooms are there and have not been stolen. We continue to provide diary assistance to the stages of the team entering the crime scene. We accompany them, we identify every finding, we take photos, we monitor their movement from the crime scene. "So we will assist you in the entire process," he said.