Pusaka Lontar Museum, Empowered with Local Wisdom

Pusaka Lontar Museum. Village community initiatives to collect and preserve lontar leaves. Examples of community-based intellectual property management. Culture promotion in practice. (Document: Hilmar Farid)

In Penaban Hamlet, Bali, villagers work together to manage the Pusaka Lontar Museum so that culture remains sustainable.  This local wisdom based community empowerment is believed to be a solution to the problem of poverty and unemployment.  

"The management of the museum will not only preserve lontar manuscripts, but also organize  Balinese cultural performances for tourist attraction," said Jro Nengah Suarya, manager of the Pusaka Lontar Museum, Hamlet Penaban, Karangasem, Bali, when contacted some time mid-July this year.

Suarya is optimistic that the goal behind the establishment of the museum will be achieved. The key to success is not only government assistance or private sector support, but the enthusiasm and mutual cooperation withf the local community. This museum involves local communities in managing and organizing the cultural arts attractions.

Located in an area of ​​1.5 hectares, the museum has become the center for study and preservation of lontar trees, which existence has been at risk these days. In addition to providing storage for the lontar manuscripts, the museum building also has a hall called  Bale Sangkul Putih which serves as a meeting room and a learning hall,  an exhibition hall to display all the lontar manuscript collections, perantenan (a place to cook dishes for cultural ceremonies), a stage for performances, and a pendopo for tourists to stay.

The Pusaka Lontar Museum inhabits the lush green area of ​​Penaban Dukuh. This hamlet is occupied by 491 households, 124 of which are those who are underprivilige. The presence of this museum is expected to attract domestic and foreign tourists  to help generate income for the local community.

This way, traditions of the Balinese people can be preserved but at the same time economic development will also take place. This is fulfilling two needs with one deed.

The museum has collected nearly 700 cakep lontar and thousands of copies of lontar manuscripts of those kept in many museums, including the Leiden Museum, in the Netherlands.  The contents are diverse like usada (medicine), babad  (genealogy or history), astakosala  (architecture), asta brata   (leadership), dharma caruban  (about culinary), dolanan (games), dharma pemaculan (agriculture), kakawin (literary works such as Ramayana , Mahabharata) and many more.

This has attracted  attention of a number of related parties from within and outside Indonesia.  Jro Suarya said, his party has collaborated with the Balinese language instructors to collect Balinese lontars and the government has been the patron for the cultural village, a status given to the place in early April 2017.

"The establishment of a cultural village and the existence of this museum will overcome the problem of poverty, empower the community, prevent urbanization, and open employment," said Suarya.

The idea of ​​economic development through community empowerment is believed to reduce income inequality among regions in Indonesia. Pusaka Lontar Museum, which was managed by the indigenous community in Penaban, Bali, has brought Suarya to become one of the speakers at the Indonesia Development Forum 2018.

On that occassion, Suarya presented the link between Pusaka Lontar Museum and the Dukuh Paneban community who manage this museum. Museum management is certainly a good example to be followed by other regions wishing to boost economic development by promoting public participation. Pusaka Lontar Museum booth later became a space for exchanging ideas and initiatives between participants of the forums and decision makers.

Through IDF 2018, Suarya can meet with a number of central policy holders related to culture such as the Ministry of Culture's Director General of Culture Hilmar Farid, Deputy Head of the Indonesian Creative Economy Agency Ricky Joseph Pesik, and various other parties. Suarya has received input like how to develop local potentials to support development of creative economy.

Hilmar Farid said the Pusaka Lontar Museum is an example of community-based intellectual and cultural wealth management. This local wealth and  wisdom can provide a way for local governments, even at the village level, to improve economic development and reduce cultural inequality. This is done transforming cultural sector into main business.   

"Law No. 5 of 2017 concerning the Advancement of Culture provides a platform for that (cultural development)," Hilmar said before the Indonesia Development Forum, July 11, 2018.

The meeting between Suarya and the Director General of Culture, Hilmar Farid at IDF 2018 continued in a visit to the Pusaka Lontar Museum by the DG two days later, July 13, 2018. The discussion between Hilmar and the management resulted in a joint collaboration to make the museum  center for lontar conservation in Bali. Hilmar was asked to become one of the curators.

"We asked Pak Hilmar to become one of  the curators of the museum," said Suarya.

Hilmar Farid joined a number of well-known figures who had become permanent curators of the museum. These are people like Ida I Dewa Gede Catra, Sugi Lanus, Ketut Artana, including the curator of the Dutch Leiden Museum Hedi Hinzler.

Looking ahead, Suarya hopes the Penaban Pusaka Lontar Museum will become a reference for generations who want to learn about the ancestral heritage.  Together with the local government, the museum will organize Balinese Language Jamboree which involves participants who are Balinese Language educators this forthcoming December. Nearly a thousand people have registered but due to the limited capacity, only 500 can be accommodated.

Museum repairs such as storage, data collection, and manuscript translation into writings that can be better understood are carried out by Pusaka Lontar Museum.  Help was coming. For example   academics from the University of Melbourne Australia came and shared knowledge about the managing storage for historical objects. The alkaline paper box designed by the campus is believed to be able to withstand bacteria and termites, thereby keeping the lontar leaves safe.

"We open up opportunities for academics or parties who want to help the museum in any form, especially with museum expansion and scripts inventory making," said Suarya. **