- ANTARA FOTO/ Fakhri Hermansyah
Jakarta – The Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology (Kemendikbudristek) has announced that the National Museum of Indonesia, or Gajah Museum will be closed for one year after a massive fire hit on September 16, 2023.
"We will temporarily close the museum for about a year. We will revitalize the museum until it is in better condition," the Culture Ministry's Directorate General, Fitra Adra said at a public discussion organized by the Indonesian Archaeologists Association (IAAI), Menteng, Jakarta, on Monday.
The National Museum has saved hundreds of historical objects affected by the fire. In this case, the National Museum cooperated with the French Notre Dame Museum, which also suffered a severe fire.
Diskusi Publik Ikatan Ahli Arkeologi Indonesia (IAAI)
- VIVA/ Deddy Setiawan
"After the rescue of affected collections was allowed, the spirit of their hard work was reflected in the identification of 126 collections of historical objects based on data obtained on Wednesday," wrote the Bureau of Cooperation and Public Relations of the Secretariat General of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology through a press statement received in Jakarta.
Adra revealed, "There are 178 national museum collections whose fragments have not been found after the fire,"
"There are 178 collections whose fragments have not yet been found,"
There are at least six rooms and 817 of the 194 thousand artifact collections affected.
These rooms include the nature room, culture room, Islamic civilization room, terracotta gallery, ceramic gallery, bronze gallery, and prehistoric gallery.
"There are two things that need to be done; addressing collections and buildings," Adra informed.
Until now, Adra said that the Ministry is working with the police and experts to continue addressing the impact of fire incident.
