List of museums and cultural institutions in Indonesia

Among the non-governmental institution was the Batavian Society of Arts and Science, which established a museum for Indonesian culture and history.

Individuals e.g. Sir Stamford Raffles and Dr. Snoeck Hourgrogne wrote valuable studies on native culture and history before the 20th-century.

It built a museum and a library, played an important role in research, and collected much material on the natural history and culture of Indonesia.

It later came under the direct control of the British Lieutenant-Governor Raffles who, among other things, provided it with a new office building for the museum and library administration.

It was only in the 1930s that local museums began to appear, usually privately initiated, by civil servants and Catholic and Protestant missionaries.

In 1901 it set up the Commissie in Nederlandsch Indie voor Oudheidkundige Onderzoek van Java en Madoera, headed by Dr J. L. A. Brandes.

The government also employed officials to make a study of local languages and started the Kantoor voor Inlandsche Zaken.

This nationalism was pioneered by Budi Utomo in 1908 in the STOVIA, whose building, the School for Javanese Doctors, is converted into a museum today.

A need for money forced people to sell their heirlooms on the market, and many objects that should have been kept in Indonesia found their way to foreign countries.

The famous painter, Walter Spies, actively helped in the creation and management of the Bali Museum in Denpasar.

Unfortunately, the decision to establish museums at the time was not matched by a determination to find experts capable of managing them properly.

The KBS actively held exhibitions and performances in big cities of the Japanese-occupied Dutch East Indies.

Among local artists member of the KBS were Emiria Sunassa, Henk Ngantung, Agus Djaja Suminta, Kartono Yudokusumo, Dullah, Basuki Resobowo, Sudiardjo, Otto Djaja, Subanto, Abdulsalam, Suyono, Surono, Siauw Tik Kwie, Ong Lian Hong, Tan Sun Tiang, Liwem Wan Gie, Harijadi S, Tan Liep Poen, Sukardi, Affandi and S.

[5][6][1] The newly independent government of Indonesia established the Ministry of Education and Culture in accordance with Article 32 in the 1945 Constitution.

In 1952, The Language Division was split into two, the first one retained the same name and the same position in the Department of Culture, the other was included in the Institute of Literature (former Instituut voor Taal en Cultuur Onderzoek, Faculteit der Lettera en Wijsbegeerte van de Universiteit van Indonesia).

[8] The New Order period also saw the expansion of the Armed Forces History Center and the encouragement of the development of museums of militaristic in nature.

This led to an accepted strategy of promoting shared values and identity across the forces through the use of a centralized military museum for older and younger generations of the soldiers.

Big cities like Jakarta, Medan, Surabaya, Bandung and Semarang need centers for science and culture, and museums as places of study and leisure.

The recreational area of Taman Mini Indonesia Indah in East Jakarta contains almost twenty museums since the 1970s within its complex.

Most museums in Sumatra are ethnographic musea specializing in cultural heritage e.g. textiles and other traditional artifacts.

The National Museum of Indonesia in Jakarta , the oldest cultural society in Indonesia, was established in 1778. The building in the photograph, the second building of the museum's society, was also the oldest museum building in Indonesia, dating from the 19th century.
Collection of artifacts by the Batavia Society of Art and Science
The library of the Batavia Society of Art and Science. The baroque bookcase in the picture is still kept in the Jakarta History Museum as of 2012, although under lack of standardized museum maintenance.
The Zoological Museum of Bogor , established in 1894 by the Batavia Society of Art and Science.
The gate of Bali Museum, built in 1931 by architect P.J. Moojen, near the location of the former royal palace of Denpasar, which had been burnt to the ground during the Dutch intervention in Bali (1906).
Museum of Indonesian History in Monas , one of the museums of Indonesia which extensively used dioramas which is controlled by the Armed Forces History Center.
A mock up of Dutch East Indies bank in Bank Indonesia Museum .
National Gallery of Indonesia
The Kalpataru Tree Hall in the Indonesia Museum, Taman Mini Indonesia Indah .
Asian-African Conference Museum
A colonial period locomotive in Ambarawa Railway Museum with its preserved track.
National Museum of Press in Solo.
Museum Sasmitaloka Panglima Besar Jenderal Soedirman.
School children in Trowulan Museum.
Aceh Museum
Aceh Tsunami Museum, Banda Aceh .
Rumah Gadang , a traditional Minang house of West Sumatra in the Information Center of Minangkabau Culture, Padang Panjang .
Sriwijaya Museum on the Sriwijaya Kingdom Archaeological Park .
Museum Lewu Hante.
Wasaka Museum in Banjarmasin.
Candi Agung Museum in Amuntai town.
Kedaton Museum, established in the former palace of the Ternate Sultanates .