MCB Says There Are 817 Collections Of National Museums Affected By Fires

The post-fire situation of the Indonesian National Museum (MNI) in Jakarta, Sunday (17/9/2023). (ANTARA/Devi Nindy)

JAKARTA - Acting Head of the Museum and Cultural Heritage (MCB) Ahmad Mahendra explained, as many as 817 collections and historical objects were affected in the fire incident at the Central Jakarta National Museum, on Saturday, September 16. " “Collects and historical objects affected are collections made of bronze, ceramics, terakota, and wood as well as collections of miniatures and replicas of prehistoric objects found intact and lightly damaged to severe," said Ahmad Mahendra when confirmed in Jakarta, Antara, Tuesday, September 19. He explained that the 817 collections affected by the fire were out of a total of 194,000 collections and historical objects stored in the National Museum of Indonesia. After the fire that occurred, he said, several steps and actions had been taken, such as forming a cross-unit investigation and evacuation team, closing six affected rooms, and closing limited to one affected room for further investigation. Meanwhile, the evacuation and transfer of collections of historical objects is slowly being carried out in the other five rooms. "Since yesterday we have started the process of evacuating collections from affected areas to temporary storage rooms," he said. He said some collections were not damaged or remained intact, while others experienced varying levels of damage. The evacuation process was accompanied by the police, as well as conducting an inventory to ensure that every historical object was recorded accurately and would receive the necessary treatment during this recovery period. The evacuation process was carried out by deploying a special team of experts to lift the debris supervised and directed by the collection evacuation team so that they could observe and take appropriate action regarding the appointment of historical collections and burning building materials. He said that several heavy equipment and damage building roof lifting techniques were needed for the evacuation and rescue of collections and historical objects in the affected room. "The process of evacuating collections and historical objects from Building A of the National Museum of Indonesia went smoothly and was carried out with great care," he said.

Nearly 100 people were deployed by the MNI team in collaboration with the Forensic Laboratory Center (Puslabfor) to save a large number of valuable artifacts and the history contained in Building A.