Jakarta Designates 6 Museum Collections as Cultural Conservation Objects

The Jakarta Culture Agency (Disbud) has officially designated six museum collections as Cultural Conservation Objects.

These objects are superior collections from each museum

Culture Agency Head Iwan Henry Wardhana said the six museum collections were designated as Cultural Conservation Objects after passing through a review process from the Jakarta Cultural Heritage Expert Team, who then recommended six collections from the Fine Arts and Ceramics Museum, Jakarta History Museum, and Joang '45 Museum.

"These objects are superior collections from each museum which have important historical and artistic values and meet the criteria as Cultural Conservation Objects," he expressed, in Kuningan Timur, South Jakarta, as quoted by Jakarta PPID's press release, Wednesday (4/27).

Four Historical Buildings in Jakarta Designated as Cultural Conservation Buildings

Those six objects of cultural heritage were the Painting of Cianjur Regent by Raden Saleh, the Painting of the Revolutionary Bride by Hendra Gunawan, the Painting of Prambanan Seko by S. Sudjojono, the Painting of Dewi by Agus Djaya, the Si Jagur Cannon, and the Rep-1 Car which is the first presidential official vehicle. Republic of Indonesia Ir. Sukarno popularly called Bung Karno.

Especially the Cianjur Regent painting by Raden Saleh Sjarif Boestaman is a collection of the Fine Arts and Ceramics Museum designated as a Cultural Conservation Object through the Governor's Decree number 334/2022.

Painted on canvas using oil paints, this European romantic realism style painting was part of the first repertoire of realism in the development of modern painting.

Then the portrait of Raden Aria Kusumahningrat as the 9th regent of Cianjur while serving from 1834 to 1862 was made in 1852.

As for the Revolution Bride painting by Hendra Gunawan, which was painted in 1955, was determined through the Governor's Decree number 333/2022. It is one of Hendra Gunawan's best works with the theme of revolution.

Gunawan made this painting after being inspired by an unusual recording of a wedding in Karawang, West Java.

Instead of wearing a wedding dress, the groom puts on an army jacket and pushes the bicycle the bride is riding, followed by a procession of a group of people and tanjidor players.

It has the concept of realism recorded social life and traditions that developed in society during the 1945 to 1949 independence revolution war. The determined collection of paintings is the Dewi Painting by Agus Djaya, as a Cultural Conservation Object through the Governor's Decree number 366/2022.

The painting, which was made in 1962, represents the 1960s Indonesian modern painting style that expresses Javanese mythological traditions. Dewi's painting expresses the figure of Nyi Roro Kidul, the queen of the south coast rulers with Impressionism.

The other collection of paintings was the Prambanan/Seko Painting by S. Sudjojono which was determined through the Governor's Decree number 367/2022. The painting of realism at his time, which was made in 1949, recorded the atmosphere after the second military aggression.

In the Prambanan Painting, there were several lines in the author's handwriting, one of which read, "Toko-toko tjina terpaksa kita bakar (We have to burn the tjina shops), apa boleh buat (what can we do), untuk kemenangan (for the victory), Prambanan, yang pertema menjeberang djalan (the first one crossed the street)".

Art Museum Management Unit Head Sri Kusumawati expressed her happiness at the establishment of 4 collections of paintings belonging to the Fine Arts and Ceramics Museum.

"In the future, there will be more collections of other UP Museums designated as Cultural Heritage Objects to increase efforts to preserve the museum's collections," she hoped.

Jakarta Historical Museum Executing Unit Head Esti Utami also expressed her hope for the determination of the Si Jagur Cannon and REP 1 Car as Cultural Conservation Objects to increase conservation efforts for museum collections.

"Surely, it will further spur us to increase efforts to preserve, protect, develop and utilize museum collections," she stated.

As for the information, the Jakarta administration also designated the Si Jagur Cannon, from the collection of the Jakarta History Museum located in Fatahillah Park, as a cultural heritage object through the Governor's Decree number 351/2022.

The cannon which was made in 1625 received a recommendation from the Cultural Conservation Expert Team according to the Minutes of Recommendation Number 171/TACB/Tap/Jakbar/XI/2021 on November 10, 2021.

In the past, it was used as a weapon by the Portuguese and the Dutch. It had many distinctive decorations, mainly in the form of a fist with the thumb flanked by the index and middle fingers at the base of the cannon.

The hand position known as Mano In Fica has a meaning as a symbol to ward off evil. Then on the wrist, there was also an ornament in the form of a pearl bracelet, and there was an inscription from Latin which read eX me Ipsa renata sVm on the cover of the base of the cannon which means from myself I was born again.

There was also the Rep-1 Car which is a collection of the Joang '45 Museum which was officially designated as a cultural heritage object through the Governor's Decree number 365/2022. This car which was produced in 1939 and has the style of an American car in the 1930s has a special meaning in Indonesian history.

The vehicle was used by Bung Karno as his first official vehicle when he was president.

After it was no longer used, it was stored in the palace garage and in 1979 it was handed over to the National Daily Council by the palace and the Bung Karno family to be enshrined in the Joang '45 Museum as a collection.