Museums, Jakarta

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The National Museum or the "Museum Gajah" is a good point to get an short or longer overview about old and recent history in Indonesia.
Very central place near Monas, and good to reach with Transjakarta Bus.
A friend recommended it to see the museum and so we were on sundaymorning so two hours there- but had finished it by the high noon heat!

Inside are some nice places to sit and rest, so near the nice Bidadari of Java with the traditionel Javanese hairdo, see the photo.
We found her, the "ARCA PANCURAN", this little nice fountain water sculpture, at the inner courtyard of the museum.
It remembers me a little on the sculptures of the river godness of Ganges in India.

Shure She was once a fountain sculpture in an nice garden at an old Javanese House or Temple, -
but so much time, so much centuries ago...

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The former town hall (stadthuis) hosts the Museum Sejarah (History museum) since 1974; it is not a very great museum you would expect in the capital city of Indonesia, it is not a modern museum, but it has a provincial charm and there are few displays and explanations which give you an very good quick insight in the history of Indonesia and Jakarta. You start here from pre-historical times and walk through time in the museum till the days of independence.
First of all, the building itself (picture 1), a long two storey (three with the mansards level) renovated, with a campanile above the entrance deserves a look; imagine how it was when Dutch militaries guarded it, the crowds on the square in front, it is a very interesting building.
A few very important displays (originals, or casts) have to be seen in theis museum: the batu tulis (engraved stone) known as Ciaruteun stone (picture 2), dating back to an old Hindu kingdom of the fifth century; witness of the very important influence of Hinduism in Java, Hindu based philosophy and philosophy of life, which is far from having been erased by Islam, and the statue of Vishnu (picture 3) is another witness.
In the museum are pre-historic remains, and I was deceived not to find some links to the “Man of Java”, the first discovered Homo Erectus (Discovered near Solo, in 1891), a possible ancestor aged one million years! (nothing to do with the much publicised “hobbits” of Flores).
In the wide rooms of the museum, you will mainly see artefacts from Dutch colonial time, mainly furniture like on picture4.
Ah, near the entrance is a strange winged Portuguese cannon (picture 5).
A little part of the museum is really worth to visit, but all the furniture, tables, beds, dishes. . . too much for me!
Open Tuesday Sunday, 9 am, 3 pm
Closed Mondays and public holidays
Entrance 2000 rp

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There is a backyard in the museum, and, coming out from the building you “meet” this Hermes (first picture), a strange statue here! You can visit prison cells under the building (picture 2) which were still used by the Japanese when they occupied Batavia, and where now cannon balls are stored. In the garden, you will find some rusted boat anchors, a few cannons, can have a look at Hermes from another perspective, and admire the vegetation and the epiphytes on the trees. Very few foreign tourists visit this museum and in the garden it is very fun to watch the local tourists and have a chat with some of them, always curious and very kind.
Open Tuesday Sunday, 9 am, 3 pm
Closed Mondays and public holidays
Entrance 2000 rp

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This puppet museum is a bit for specialists or not very pedagogic laid out; a bit a pity as there are lots of examples of puppets from different areas of Indonesia, and they also reflect a bit the cultural life of that country. For instance, on the first picture here, are modern characters, showing that there is not only the old Hindu epics which are played in the theatres, but also some critics of the time, some satiric plays.
When you enter the museum, you pass by gamelan orchestra instruments (picture 2), as in Java, that music goes traditionally with the theatre; close to the entrance are also giant puppets (I do not know how they are played. . . ) and the young girls kindly posed for me to give an idea of the size of this puppet.
We have seen French puppets in the previous tip, here are Chinese puppets (picture 4) where it seem easy to see the good and bad. . . .
And what does this bird (picture 5) do in a puppet museum? It is a lamp for creating the shades for the wayang kulit; the light of petrol lamps is not regular and homogeneous, it gives more dramatic atmosphere to the theatre representations.
Open
Tuesday Sunday
09.00 - 15.00 WIB
Closed Mondays and public holidays
Entrance: Rp. 2.000

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Wayang is the old Malay word designating puppets, and puppets theatres are very important in South East Asian culture; the Javanese puppets are famous. Wayang existed on Java before the Hindu culture settled on this Island and developed during the 6th to 11 th centuries; the wayang since is more or less codified and the main characters of Ramayana or Mahabharata are most represented and symbolised ; it is all a matter of good (Halus, delicate faces, clear voices, thin nose. . . . ) and bad (Kasar, big coarse faces, shouting, round eyes. . . ) and the fight between them. This here is extreme simplification, and best is to read in a guide or a specialised book; I can recommend a short introduction here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayang
The little brochure you can get at the entrance of the museum does not help a lot for explaining what you will see.
Well, it is about puppets, local and foreign. Most displays are behind glass and pictures are not easy to take. A wooden puppet (Wayang golek) of Petruk (picture 1), who is a servant of “good” kings; on picture 2, wayang kulit (leather puppets) played with shades projected on a screen); a “good” character on the right, bad characters on the left.
On picture 3, Semar, father of Petruk, a “good” clever character, despite his physical appearance. . . nothing is simple. . .
The show windows in the museum are a bit . . . . . crowded (picture 4), probably to make some space to . . . . newcomers! On picture 5 are the very famous puppets from Lyon (France) with Guignol (in the back corner) and the gendarme. . . Gift from a French president to Indonesia.
Excellent pictures and a good text (click on the last picture down right) about Sundanese Wayang Golek are on this website: http://www.pbase.com/amoxtli/wayang_golek

At the time of writing the tip, the beautiful Wayang website : http://www.wayang-indonesia.com/ had been hacked; try to have a look when you read, it will be repaired?
Open
Tuesday Sunday
09.00 - 15.00 WIB
Closed Mondays and public holidays
Entrance: Rp. 2.000

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On the ground level one of the biggest boats on display is this Asmat outrigger canoe (first picture), rather difficult to photograph in the museum rooms, and to have a better view on boats, it is better to look at models (picture 2), which are very nice and well done, with some explanations; many models are on display in the museum rooms, they look very tiny in the big hall of the warehouse (picture 3), but is it not nice to have that much space for the displays? And I was interested by displays on construction techniques, with big posters, but unfortunately most explanations are in Indonesian (picture 4); coming back near the entrance, I noticed not only that the warehouse was well preserved but the museum is artistically laid out, with nice colours matching with the décor (picture 5).
Well, the Museum Bahari is certainly not a world top maritime museum, but it has a real personality, is located in a very interesting district of Jakarta, in a beautiful group of old buildings, and it is very enjoyable to spend two hours here and learn about this country made of thousands of islands.
Open Tuesday-Sunday 09.00 - 15.00 WIB (WIB means Waktu Indonesia Barat, West Indonesia time): 9 am-3 pm
Closed Mondays and public holidays.
entrance : Rp. 2.000

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On the lower level of the museum, in the wide rooms, there is space to display some examples of boats and vessels created in Indonesia; don’t forget Indonesia is formed by thousands of islands, where very different people, cultures and beliefs live; that has an influence on the behaviour with the sea, the creation of boats, the navigation techniques, etc. . . . So in this museum, you will see a few examples of boats, like this Balinese boat, on the first picture , and other boats of the lesser Sunda Islands on the second picture, where even Ibu Herdanti is admiring.
Other boats are outside (picture 3), and I was lucky to have a “private” guide, for some explanations (In Indonesian) but there are very few (if any) explanations about the boats outside.
The first level of the museum displays navigation instruments (compasses, sextants. . . . ), lights for lighthouses (picture 4), lighthouses models. . . .
A maritime museum has also to tell about marine life, and this one does, even shortly; there are many displays of shells, and a genealogic tree of molluscs (picture 5): why not know a bit about the relationships of the shells we collect?
Open Tuesday-Sunday 09.00 - 15.00 WIB (WIB means Waktu Indonesia Barat, West Indonesia time): 9 am-3 pm
Closed Mondays and public holidays.
entrance : Rp. 2.000

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In the tower are few pictures of maritime life of the past, and if there were not the views over the area, it is not worth to risk to break a leg on the steep stairs getting you up the tower. . . On the main picture you see the main building of the museum, on the left, and before reaching it, look at the canalized Ciliwung River through the windows, and also at the roof made with very light wooden plates (picture 2).
It is now time to reach the main building, and if the building is obvious, the entrance is a bit hidden behind the cars and trucks, between the two cannons (picture 3).
The Museum Bahari is a maritime museum, but of prime interest is the building: this old warehouse has wonderfully been preserved or has very well been restored, and the warehouse architecture is still there in a sort of a splendour (picture 4); splendour, a bit exaggeration, but all the beams, ceilings the wide spaces, the windows. . . . it is very impressive. Here, on picture 5 is a model, but we will see real boats in the warehouses, and lots more.
Open Tuesday-Sunday 09.00 - 15.00 WIB (WIB means Waktu Indonesia Barat, West Indonesia time): 9 am-3 pm
Closed Mondays and public holidays.
entrance : Rp. 2.000