Museum sights in Java
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A
Benteng Vredeburg
On the opposite side of Jl A Yani, is the Benteng Vredeburg, a Dutch-era fort that’s been converted into a museum. It houses dioramas showing the history of the independence movement in Yogyakarta. The architecture is worth a look, but the dioramas are designed for Indonesian patriots.
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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…
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B
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…
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Sangiran
Sangiran is an important archaeological excavation site, where some of the best examples of fossil skulls of prehistoric 'Java Man' Pithecanthropus erectus were unearthed by a Dutch professor in 1936. Sangiran has a small museum with a few skulls (one of Homo erectus), various pig and hippopotamus teeth, and fossil exhibits, including huge mammoth tusks.
Souvenir stalls outside sell bones, 'mammoth tusks' carved from stone and other dubious fossil junk.
Guides will also offer to take you to the area where shells and other fossils have been found in the crumbling slopes of the hill.
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C
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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Affandi Museum
One of Indonesia’s most celebrated artists, Affandi lived and worked in a wonderfully quirky riverside house-cum-studio, about 6km east of the town centre. Today his former home is the Affandi Museum, which has an extensive collection of his paintings, including some astonishing self-portraits. Affandi’s work is displayed in two large Gaudiesque buildings that he designed himself and also contain a few personal items, including a boy racer’s dream: a lime-green-and-yellow customized 1967 Galant car with an oversized rear spoiler.
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Radya Pustaka Museum
The small Radya Pustaka Museum, next to the tourist office, has good displays of gamelan instruments, jewelled kris, wayang puppets from Thailand and Indonesia, a small collection of wayang beber (scrolls that depict wayang stories) and Raja Mala, a hairy puppet figurehead from a royal barge. Offerings must be made regularly to Raja Mala; otherwise, it is said, it will exude a pungent odour. The museum often closes earlier than the official closing time listed here.
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D
Sono-Budoyo Museum
Across the main square in front of the kraton, Sono-Budoyo Museum is the pick of Yogya’s museums, even if it is dusty and dimly lit. It has a first-class collection of Javanese art, including wayang kulit puppets, topeng (masks), kris and batik. It also has a courtyard packed with Hindu statuary and artefacts from further afield, including superb Balinese carvings. Wayang kulit performances are held here.
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Danar Hadi
This is a small museum big on batik, with a terrific collection of antique and royal textiles from Java, China and beyond. It occupies a stunning whitewashed colonial building. Entry includes a guided tour in English, which explains the history of the many pieces (10,000 in the collection), though no photos are allowed. There’s a workshop where you can watch craftswomen at work creating new masterpieces. There’s an upmarket storeroom and souvenir shop too.
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E
Museum Geologi
About 3km north of the centre, the Museum Geologi is housed in the massive old headquarters of the Dutch Geological Service. It’s a good place to get to grips with all matters geological and volcanic in Indonesia, though there’s almost no information in English. Nevertheless it’s worth an hour or so poking around the lava stones, crystals and bones that include a model of Tyrannosaurus rex and a mammoth.
reviewed
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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.
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Museum Nasional
On the western side of Merdeka Sq, the National Museum, built in 1862, is the best of its kind in Indonesia and is the one museum in the city that’s an essential visit. A very impressive new wing was added on the north side of the neo-classical colonial structure in 2007. No photographs are allowed.
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F
Museum Konperensi
The Museum Konperensi inside the Gedung Merdeka (Freedom Building) is dedicated to the Asia-Africa conference of 1955. The scanty exhibits are pretty disappointing, but there are a few interesting photos of Sukarno, Nehru, Ho Chi Minh, Nasser and other developing world leaders of the 1950s.
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G
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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H
Museum Prangko
While you’re in the neighbourhood, dip into the Museum Prangko in the northeastern corner of the Gedung Sate complex. As well as thousands of stamps from around the world, the museum has everything from postboxes to pushcarts used since colonial times.
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I
Museum Kareta Kraton
Near the kraton entrance, Museum Kareta Kraton has exhibits of the opulent chariots of the sultans, although the bug-eyed horse statues are almost more interesting than the main event.
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J
Museum Mandala Wangsit
Not far north of Gedung Merdeka is the Museum Mandala Wangsit, which devotes itself to the history and exploits of the West Java Siliwangi Division (based in Bandung).
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