Museum sights in Jakarta
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Museum Nasional
On the western side of Merdeka Sq, the Museum Nasional, built in 1862, is the best of its kind in Indonesia and one of the finest in Southeast Asia. It has an enormous collection of cultural objects of the various ethnic groups around the country - costumes, musical instruments, model houses and so on - and numerous fine bronzes from the Hindu-Javanese period, as well as many interesting stone pieces salvaged from the Central Javanese and other temples.
There's also a superb display of Chinese ceramics dating back to the Han dynasty (300 BC to AD 220), which was almost entirely amassed in Indonesia.
Just outside the museum is a bronze elephant that was presented by the Kin…
reviewed
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A
Museum Bahari
Near the entrance to Sunda Kelapa, several old VOC warehouses (dating back to 1652) have been converted into the Museum Bahari. This is a good place to learn about the city’s maritime history, and though the wonderful old buildings (some renovated) are echoingly empty there are some good information panels (in English and Bahasa Indonesia). Under the heavy wooden beams of the vast old storage premises are various random exhibits: a sextant (used for astronomical navigation), various traditional boats from around Indonesia, the shell of a giant clam, plenty of pickled fish and a lighthouse lamp or two. The sentry posts outside are part of the old city wall. Just before the…
reviewed
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B
Museum Wayang
This puppet museum has one of the best collections of wayang puppets in Java and its dusty cabinets are full of a multitude of characters. The collection includes puppets from not only Indonesia but also China, Vietnam, India, Cambodia and Europe, and masks used by dancers. There are free wayang performances here on Sunday at 10am.
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National History Museum
In the base of the monument Monas, the National History Museum tells the story of Indonesia’s independence struggle in 48 dioramas using Thunderbirds-like models. The numerous uprisings against the Dutch are overstated but interesting; Sukarno is barely mentioned and the events surrounding the 1965 coup are a whitewash.
reviewed
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C
Museum Sejarah Jakarta
The Jakarta History Museum is housed in the old town hall of Batavia, a stately Dutch-style structure that was once the epicentre of an empire. This bell-towered building, built in 1627, served the administration of the city and was also used by the city law courts.
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