Conservators’ Professional Visibility in Public Cultural Institutions in Jakarta: A Case Study

Abstract

This paper provides a discussion about the conservation profession in the Jakarta area of Indonesia. The study, which uses descriptive and qualitative research, was conducted among three public, cultural institutions: a museum, a conservation center, and a library. These institutions were chosen because of their collection of ancient manuscripts and their employment of professional conservators. The study’s findings show that conservators are concerned about the visibility of their profession in terms of lack of appreciation from the government as well as the status of their profession and that they believe they need professional associations and more comprehensive legal instruments to strengthen their profession’s visibility and the public’s opinion of them. This paper contributes to the discussion of the conservation profession, especially in the Indonesian context.

The Urgency of Digitizing Ancient Indonesian Manuscripts in Libraries: A Literature Review

“…Many Indonesian ancient manuscripts have suffered damage due to natural factors like humidity and insect attacks (Falahudin, 2018;Fatori, 2019), as well as human-induced damage (Mustika & Syahrun, 2020;Roza, 2016). Nonetheless, efforts have been made to preserve these documents through restoration and conservation (Primadesi, 2012;Sunarno & Rachman, 2023). Indonesian ancient manuscripts are valuable resources for understanding the history, culture, religion, and traditional knowledge of Indonesia (Hasibuan & Matondang, 2017;Wibowo & Christiani, 2018) as they contain classic literary texts, sacred scriptures, historical records, and classical knowledge that have played a significant role in shaping the national identity of Indonesia (Azhari, n.d.;Rozanah, 2017).…”

“…Indonesian ancient manuscripts, known for their cultural and linguistic diversity, represent an invaluable intellectual treasure (Dinesh et al, 2023;Hanif et al, 2023). These texts provide a window to the past, offering profound insights into Indonesia's cultural evolution (Sunarno & Rachman, 2023), history (Dinasheva et al, 2022), religion (Shamakhay et al, 2019), and science (Schettino et al, 2023). Libraries and cultural institutions nationwide play a pivotal role in preserving and disseminating these ancient texts (Kuswara, 2018;Tronchin & Fabbri, 2017).…”