Ministry of Education and Culture to Scan Borobudur 3D with Harvard

Minister of Culture Fadli Zon with senior Harvard FAS CAMLab academician, Prof. Eugene Wang, at the Ministry of Culture Office, Jakarta, Tuesday, August 11. (IST)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Culture is exploring cooperation with Harvard FAS CAMLab to scan Borobudur Temple in three dimensions. This digitization is directed to record the condition of the site more completely, including the relief parts that have changed and damaged.

The plan was discussed by Minister of Culture Fadli Zon together with senior Harvard FAS CAMLab academician, Prof. Eugene Wang, at the Ministry of Culture Office, Jakarta, Tuesday, August 11.

One of the things discussed was a thorough 3D scanning of Borobudur. The latest data will later be combined with old photo archives to help create a more precise digital reconstruction.

The Ministry of Culture said that a comparison of Borobudur images from 1906 with recent photos showed damage to a number of reliefs over a century.

"Once we have digital data, we can do a lot with it. Maybe in a different way than we have imagined so far," said Fadli.

According to Fadli, digital documentation is important because the condition of cultural heritage can change or be damaged due to various factors. The data can also be used to maintain knowledge about cultural sites for the next generation.

In addition to Borobudur, the Ministry of Culture and Harvard discussed the re-publication of historical materials that are difficult to find as well as publications regarding Indonesia's contribution to the history of world culture.

Eugene Wang said that the data from the scan could be developed into a digital space that would allow people from various countries to get to know Indonesia's cultural heritage before coming directly.

"We can make the digital world on a smaller scale, so that from various corners of the world can explore it," he said.

According to him, technology can also open up new possibilities in the development of humanities studies and the presentation of cultural heritage digitally.

The cooperation has not been formally established. The Ministry of Culture stated that the partnership framework between the ministry, the Tzu Chi Indonesia Buddhist Foundation, and Harvard will be drafted to support the provision of resources, large-scale 3D scanning, and the digital preservation of Borobudur.

Also present at the meeting were the Head of the Museum and Cultural Heritage Indira Estiyanti Nurjadin, Legal and Cultural Policy Expert Staff Masyitoh Annisa Ramadhani Alkatiri, Secretary General of the Tzu Chi Buddhist Foundation Indonesia Hong Tjhin, and representatives of Harvard FAS CAMLab.