The Indonesia Museum ( id, Museum Indonesia), is an

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of be ...

and ethnological museum located in

Taman Mini Indonesia Indah Taman Mini "Indonesia Indah" (literally ''"Beautiful Indonesia" Mini Park''—the apostrophes are in the name—abbreviated as TMII) is a culture-based recreational area located in East Jakarta, Indonesia. Since July 2021, it is operated by the G ...

(TMII),

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital city, capital and list of Indonesian cities by population, largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coa ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...

. The museum is concentrated on arts and cultures of various ethnic groups that inhabit

Indonesian archipelago The islands of Indonesia, also known as the Indonesian Archipelago ( id, Kepulauan Indonesia) or Nusantara, may refer either to the islands comprising the country of Indonesia or to the geographical groups which include its islands. History ...

and formed the modern nation of

. The museum is a richly decorated building in

Balinese architecture Balinese architecture is a vernacular architecture tradition of Balinese people that inhabits volcanic island of Bali, Indonesia. The Balinese architecture is a centuries-old architectural tradition influenced by Balinese culture developed from Hi ...

. The museum boasts a comprehensive collection consisting of over 1,000 pieces of traditional and contemporary

Indonesian art It is quite difficult to define Indonesian art, since the country is immensely diverse. The sprawling archipelago nation consists of 17.000 islands. Around 922 of those permanently inhabited, by over 1,300 ethnic groups, which speak more than 700 ...

s, crafts and traditional costumes from the different regions of the nation.

History

The museum was designed as the integral part of the whole

(TMII) complex. It was meant as a learning center of

Indonesian culture The culture of Indonesia has been shaped by long interaction between original indigenous customs and multiple foreign influences. Indonesia is centrally-located along ancient trading routes between the Far East, South Asia and the Middle East, r ...

, "one stop to learn about Indonesia". The TMII complex was built and inaugurated in 1975 under the patronage of Mrs. Tien Suharto. The construction of the museum started in 1976 and opened to public on 20 April 1980 during the 5th anniversary of TMII. The museum is elaborately decorated with Balinese statues and ornaments. It was built in Balinese architectural style. Some large ''Paduraksa'' and ''Candi Bentar'' (split portal) style Balinese gates, as well as several corner towers adorn the complex. The museum park took the theme of

Ramayana The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th to 4th centuries BCE, and later stages ...

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

epic; the bridge to the main building took the form of

Nāga The Nagas (IAST: ''nāga''; Devanāgarī: नाग) are a divine, or semi-divine, race of half-human, half-serpent beings that reside in the netherworld (Patala), and can occasionally take human or part-human form, or are so depicted in art. ...

serpents with

vanara In Hindu, Vanara ( sa, वानर, , forest-dwellers) are either monkeys, apes, or a race of forest-dwelling people. In the epic the ''Ramayana'', the Vanaras help Rama defeat Ravana. They are generally depicted as humanoid apes, or human-l ...

ape army that built a bridge to

Lanka Lanka (, ) is the name given in Hindu epics to the island fortress capital of the legendary asura king Ravana in the epics of the ''Ramayana'' and the ''Mahabharata''. The fortress was situated on a plateau between three mountain peaks known ...

. The museum was built in

by a Balinese architect Ida Bagus Tugur. The main building consists of three floors in accordance with Balinese philosophy of ''

Tri Hita Karana Tri Hita Karana is a traditional philosophy for life on the island of Bali, Indonesia. The literal translation is roughly the "three causes of well-being" or "three reasons for prosperity." The three causes referred to in the principle are: # Harmo ...

'', the concept that emphasizes the three aspects of a human's complete happiness; to nurture harmony with God, with fellow human beings, and with nature.

Collections

The permanent exhibits and collections are arranged in three sections located on each of three floors.

First floor

The theme of the first floor exhibit is ''

Bhinneka Tunggal Ika ''Bhinneka Tunggal Ika'' is the official national motto of Indonesia, inscribed in the National emblem of Indonesia, the Garuda Pancasila, written on the scroll gripped by the Garuda's claws. The phrase comes from the Old Javanese, translated ...

'' (Unity in Diversity). It features traditional formal dress and wedding costumes of 27 provinces of Indonesia (Indonesian provinces from 1975 to 2000). The exhibit also displays Indonesian artforms, such as various types of

dances Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoire ...

wayang , also known as ( jv, ꦮꦪꦁ, translit=wayang), is a traditional form of puppet theatre play originating from the Indonesian island of Java. refers to the entire dramatic show. Sometimes the leather puppet itself is referred to as . Perfor ...

and

gamelan Gamelan () ( jv, ꦒꦩꦼꦭꦤ꧀, su, ᮌᮙᮨᮜᮔ᮪, ban, ᬕᬫᭂᬮᬦ᭄) is the traditional ensemble music of the Javanese, Sundanese, and Balinese peoples of Indonesia, made up predominantly of percussive instruments. T ...

, also the painted glass map of Indonesia. The exhibit displays the rich diversity of Indonesian people and culture and also celebrates the pluralism of Indonesia, formed from different languages, traditions, religions, cultures, and customs.

Second floor

''Manusia dan Lingkungan'' (Human and Environment) is the theme of the second floor exhibit. It is meant to showcase the interaction of Indonesian people with nature and the environment. The exhibit features different traditional houses, religious buildings, rice barn, and the layout of the houses and living spaces. These include houses built on elevated platforms, built on trees or on the river, and various styles of traditional vernacular buildings. The dioramas of parts of Indonesian traditional houses include a

Palembang Palembang () is the capital city of the Indonesian province of South Sumatra. The city proper covers on both banks of the Musi River on the eastern lowland of southern Sumatra. It had a population of 1,668,848 at the 2020 Census. Palembang ...

wedding room, Javanese middle living room, and

Batak Batak is a collective term used to identify a number of closely related Austronesian ethnic groups predominantly found in North Sumatra, Indonesia, who speak Batak languages. The term is used to include the Karo, Pakpak, Simalungun, Tob ...

kitchen. Objects used in daily life, such as for hunting, gathering, farming, and agricultural objects are also on display. The ceremonies concerning the human life cycle are presented, such as ''Mitoni'' (seventh month of pregnancy) ceremony, ''Turun Tanah'' ceremony (a ceremony for baby), ''Khitanan'' (

circumcision Circumcision is a procedure that removes the foreskin from the human penis. In the most common form of the operation, the foreskin is extended with forceps, then a circumcision device may be placed, after which the foreskin is excised. Top ...

) ceremony, ''Mapedes'' ceremony (Balinese coming-of-age ceremony incorporates teeth cutting), Datuk (traditional community leader) inauguration ceremony, and Minangkabau ''Pelaminan'' (wedding throne).

Third floor

''Seni dan Kriya'' (Arts and Crafts) is the theme of the third floor. The room showcases the traditional and contemporary arts and crafts of Indonesian people. Traditional textile crafts such as

Songket ''Songket'' is a '' Tenun'' fabric that belongs to the brocade family of textiles of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. It is hand-woven in silk or cotton, and intricately patterned with gold or silver threads. It is hand-woven in ...

, Tenun (weaving), and

batik Batik is an Indonesian technique of wax-resist dyeing applied to the whole cloth. This technique originated from the island of Java, Indonesia. Batik is made either by drawing dots and lines of the resist with a spouted tool called a ''ca ...

are on display as well as metal and wooden crafts. The intricate traditional wooden carving traditions, such as the ones belonging to the Jepara (Central Java),

Bali Bali () is a province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and ...

Toraja The Torajans are an ethnic group indigenous people, indigenous to a mountainous region of South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Their population is approximately 1,100,000, of whom 450,000 live in the List of regencies and cities of Indonesia, regency of ...

, and Asmat culture are on display on this floor. The centerpiece of this section is a large wooden carving of the Kalpataru tree, the tree of life. This eight meters high and four meters wide tree symbolizes nature and the universe and contains five basic elements; air, water, wind, earth, and fire.

Other events

Sometimes the museum also displays non-permanent or temporary exhibitions with specific themes, such as ''

topeng ''Topeng'' (from ban, ᬢᭀᬧᬾᬂ, su, ᮒᮧᮕᮨᮔᮌ, and jv, ꦠꦺꦴꦥꦺꦁ, topeng, mask) is a dramatic form of Indonesian dance in which one or more mask-wearing, ornately costumed performers interpret traditional narratives c ...

'' (traditional

mask A mask is an object normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance, or entertainment and often they have been employed for rituals and rights. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and pra ...

), traditional textiles, weapons, paintings, also art and craft demonstrations; such as batik or wayang kulit making. Other buildings within the museum complex are Balinese park, Bale Panjang, Bale Bundar, and Soko Tujuh building that are available for rent to host public or private events.

References

External links

TMII Official website

Museum Indonesia

Museum Indonesia tmii
{{coord, 6, 18, 04, S, 106, 53, 29, E, type:landmark, display=title Museums in Jakarta Ethnographic museums in Indonesia History museums in Indonesia Taman Mini Indonesia Indah