Jakarta Fine Arts and Ceramics Museum Hosts Malangan Exhibition

The Jakarta Museum of Fine Arts and Ceramics will host an anthropology and photography exhibition titled 'Malangan: A Legacy That Refuses to Vanish' starting September 3, 2026.

The importance of preserving Indonesia's cultural heritage

The exhibition is based on visual research documenting 12 active communities preserving the ancestral tradition of Wayang Topeng Malangan in Malang, East Java.

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The exhibition follows a ceremony to return the works to the communities, held at Sanggar Asmorobangun in Pakisaji, Malang, on August 23, 2026. During the event, local residents independently organized and coordinated an exhibition titled 'Malangan: Un legado que se niega al desaparecer' in their own village.

On that occasion, the photographer personally presented handmade books to the master practitioners and leaders of the 12 communities. The books document the history, rituals, and testimonies of local communities, reflecting the project's central idea that "memory never belongs to us; it must always return to where it came from."

Wayang Topeng Malangan is closely linked to the Panji Tales, recognized by UNESCO under its Memory of the World program. The tradition is a distinctive form of ritual and theatrical expression in Indonesia. As this ancestral tradition faces the threat of disappearing, the exhibition highlights the resilience of its cultural custodians and honors the master practitioners who have kept it alive.

"Through this exhibition, the Museum of Fine Arts and Ceramics serves as a meeting point for art, history, and the collective memory of communities. We hope the stories of Wayang Topeng Malangan master practitioners and communities will reach a wider audience while strengthening awareness of the importance of preserving Indonesia's cultural heritage," said Sri Kusumawati, Head of the Art Museums Management Unit, on Friday (8/28).

The photographs featured in the project seek to document lives and preserve stories that could otherwise be lost. The exhibition presents a series of intimate portraits, field documentary photographs, and ethnographic materials collected over months of fieldwork with Wayang Topeng Malangan communities and studios.

The project was made possible through the support and collaboration of the Embassy of Spain in Indonesia, AECID, the Jakarta Provincial Government through the Jakarta Culture Agency, the Art Museums Management Unit, and the Museum of Fine Arts and Ceramics.

The collaboration also involves the Unveiling the Masks research project, the Chair of Studies on Tradition at the University of Valladolid, GIR IDINTAR, and Cofradía del Santísimo Sacramento (Archicofradía de Minerva).

The partnership is part of broader efforts to strengthen international, academic, and institutional commitments to safeguarding intangible cultural heritage while preserving Indonesia's cultural diversity.