Repatriation and Conservation

Authors

Sandra Sardjono, Tracing Patterns FoundationFollow
Kristal Hale, Tracing Patterns Foundation
Christopher Buckley, Tracing Patterns FoundationFollow
Saiful Bakhri, Tracing Patterns Foundation
Absari Hanifah, Tracing Patterns Foundation

Date of this Version

2024

Document Type

Presentation

Citation

Textile Society of America 2024 Symposium

Shifts & Strands: Rethinking the Possibilities and Potentials of Textiles, November 12-17, 2024, a virtual event

Comments

Published by the Textiles Society of America

Copyright 2024, the authors. Used by permission

Abstract

Textile represents one of the most important cultural heritages in Indonesia and is an integral part of social and religious lives of traditional communities. Due to colonial impact, shifts in indigenous belief systems and values, modernization, and tourism, many textiles have left their original environments. Many gained new contexts as museum objects housed in regional museums or private collections in Indonesia and abroad.

In Indonesian museums, these objects are cared for by museum staff with various backgrounds and levels of expertise, who are shifted to new positions every two-three years by the Indonesian Ministry. This methodology is intended as a response to colonization with the goal of imparting intra-museum knowledge throughout the archipelago. Consequently, individuals may serve as curator and/or conservator of ceramics at one institution and textiles at another.

This solution to a colonial problem creates challenges of its own; individuals must adapt wit creativity and resilience as they care for textiles in humid, equatorial environments.

The desire to support Indonesian museums inspired Tracing Patterns Foundation to create the Museums of the 21st Century program. In its first program in 2022, TPF collaborated with other US and Indonesian organizations to create workshops focusing on conservation, curation, and education. This effort works in tandem with the repatriation Textiles Forward Program, which aims to repatriate significant textile objects to educational institutions such as museums and universities. This presentation will discuss the learning process involved in these two programs, their impact on local institutions, and their ongoing effects.