Fourteenth International Conference on the Inclusive Museum

Abstract

Museums already existed in the Indonesian archipelago as early as 1778. In the early twentieth century, the number of museums was flourished. In 1942 there were approximately 25 museums (ethnographic, antiquities or archaeology and natural history museums) established in colonial Indonesia. The majority of the museums were established by European colonizers: governors-general and government officials, missionaries, anthropologists and other scientists, as well as learned societies. However, there were also a number of Javanese elites (and local learned societies) who established archaeology/antiquities museums in colonial Indonesia. Therefore, this research questions how the (local) museums as knowledge makers were organized, and what were the personal motives of those Javanese elites to established museums. This research’s method is archival research. Through archives and old photographs, this research discusses four Javanese elites and their colonial museums in Yogyakarta, Surakarta, and Mojokerto. This research reveals that those Javanese elites received a European education, had a sense of belonging to protect their own heritage, as well as considered themselves as modern.