Taking Care of Historical Artifacts

KOMPAS/ALOYSIUS BUDI KURNIAWAN

National Museum officials collect data on historical objects that have just been repatriated from the Delft Archipelago Museum, the Netherlands, on Thursday (01/01/2020) at the National Museum, Jakarta. A total of 1,500 Indonesian historical objects stored in the Delft Archipelago Museum, the Netherlands, have been repatriated to Indonesia. Repatriation in this context is understood as the return of art objects or cultural heritage booty seized during the colonial period.

We are happy to see that thousands of historical artifacts previously held in the Netherlands have been returned to Indonesia as they will further add to the quality of the collection of the National Museum.

However, we are sad to find out that the historical artifacts have been returned because the museums that had kept them ran out of funds or were bankrupt, so they had to be merged.

On Thursday, some 1,500 historic objects returned from the Delft Museum, in the Netherlands, were shown by the director general of culture of the Education and Culture Ministry Hilmar Farid (Kompas, 3/1/2020).

"After choosing from collections related to our interests, especially to increase the quality of the National Museum collection, our colleagues from the National Museum selected 1,500 items to be brought back to Indonesia," Hilmar said.

Negotiations for the repatriation of the 1,500 historic artifacts have been going on since 2015. In 1970, Queen Juliana symbolically handed over the Nagarakretagama manuscript to President Soeharto.

Negotiations for the repatriation of the 1,500 historic artifacts have been going on since 2015. In 1970, Queen Juliana symbolically handed over the Nagarakretagama manuscript to President Soeharto. However, the original Pararaton manuscript was only received in 1972. Five years later, several other historical objects, such as the Prajnaparamita statue, were also returned by the Dutch.

Hilmar said that several museums in Europe were conducting comprehensive discussions related to historical artifacts that were previously collected and obtained from Indonesia in an inappropriate manner.

"The return from Delft paves the way for the return of other historical objects from other European museums," he said.

We welcome the return of the historical artifacts. Besides being important objects for the study of students and researchers, they can also show our appreciation of the inheritance of our predecessors. However, on the other hand, we are concerned about whether historical objects, some of which are hundreds of years old and well preserved, can be looked after as well as in Dutch museums or in other European countries.

Not just disappearances, the excavation of Kedaton Temple was carried out carelessly.

We often hear how this nation ignores the heritage of historical objects. In early 2014, for example, Kompas reported on hundreds of ancient brick reliefs that had disappeared from the Kedaton Temple complex in the Muaro Jambi cultural heritage area, Jambi, and the loss of a number of archaeological discoveries in the Mount Kelud area.

Not just disappearances, the excavation of Kedaton Temple was carried out carelessly. As a result, many parts of the site were destroyed and much historical data was lost. Have we learned a lot during the past six years so that we have the courage to take back thousands of these historical objects from the Netherlands?

We hope that thousands of the historical objects, some thousands of years old, can bring new pride to us as a nation. By taking care of them and creating a good narrative, that goal can be achieved. If we only accept them without being able to take care of them, we will instead receive criticism from the world. The task of the government is to take care, which of course requires greater funds, and to create a narrative so that all citizens are proud of these historic objects.