On 5th August, Fadli Zon, the Indonesian Minister of Culture, announced that almost 200 museums and cultural heritage sites would be revitalised this year, in Jakarta.

There are many museums, as well as large royal palaces, including Maimun Palace, Surakarta Palace and various royal palaces in Kalimantan and Sulawesi, which will undergo revitalisation this year, he added at a discussion event.

Provincial museums are a priority, he explained, especially in terms of displays, as many of them have wonderful artefacts but are poorly displayed.

The revitalisation program is considered to be crucial to make the museums more appealing to the younger generation, capable of becoming modern, attractive and comfortable educational centres.

Museums also need to realise their role in cultural and historical preservation by presenting their exhibits appropriately. 

Indonesia’s governor of North Sulawesi, Fadli, thanked the government for devoting a part of the provincial budget to revitalise the provincial museum that is now able to receive a high number of visitors.

He said that many other regional leaders remain indifferent to their provincial museums and cultural parks, which could be used for education and for heritage tourism.

He explained that these provincial museums and cultural parks are actually granted the Special Allocation Funds (DAK) of the Ministry of Culture, from Rp1 billion to Rp3 billion per year.

He wishes the regional leaders in Indonesia to have a deeper comprehension of such funds and to make effective use of them to revitalise local museums and cultural parks, which he believes are vital places in the region that should be leveraged to propel the development of regional culture.