Rajapatni.com: Surabaya 27/2/24) – A collaborative ꦏꦼꦂꦗꦱꦩ project to revitalize the Peneleh Cemetery as a Living Library has begun. This collaboration involves the historical community Begandring Soerabaia (Indonesia) and TiMe Amsterdam (Netherlands), whose kick off will begin on Monday, February 26 2024 and is expected to be completed in December 2024.
This collaboration on the revitalization of the Peneleh European Village ꦧꦼꦂꦠꦸꦗꦸꦮꦤ꧀ aims to open up, create relevance and impact as well as new values for the Peneleh Cemetery as a more meaningful and friendlier vehicle for local residents and visitors both directly (offline) and online. Apart from that, it is hoped that this project will empower local communities, local entrepreneurship and improve the image of the people of Peneleh Village and its surroundings.
Before the kick off, which was held at the Peneleh Cemetery, TiMe Amsterdam, represented by Max Meijer and Petra Timmer, visited the Surabaya Education Museum on behalf of the Dutch museum to discuss possible collaborations in the future. They were warmly welcomed by the Head of the Surabaya City Museum and Arts Building UPTD Saidatul Maknunah and museum curator M.T. Agus.
According to Max Meijer, Director of TiMe Amsterdam, there are interesting and important things about the Surabaya Education Museum in relation to the Education Museum in the Netherlands. Namely regarding the content of national awakening in the field of education and cultural content related to ꦄꦏ꧀ꦱꦫꦤꦸꦱꦤ꧀ꦠꦫ Indonesian script, especially Javanese script.
In the content of ꦏꦼꦧꦁꦏꦶꦠꦤ꧀ꦥꦼꦤ꧀ꦝꦶꦣꦶꦏꦤ꧀ the revival of education, which is presented by the Education Museum in Surabaya, Max assesses it as honesty that is real and not covered up. It can be seen from the narrative presentation in the last zone of this museum which states that in fact, post-independence or decolonialization, the education system in Indonesia continued to change seemingly endlessly.
“Every change of leader is always accompanied by a change in the education system,” explained the museum guide while explaining the narrative display in the last zone of the Education Museum.
During this visit, Max Meijer, who is also a museologist and museum consultant in the ICOMOS (International Committee on Museums and Sites) network, which stands under the umbrella of UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), said that during his formal activities in the project revitalizing the Peneleh Cemetery as a Living Library, Peneleh Cemetery as a Living Library, he is exploring the potential for cooperation in the museum sector with the Surabaya Education Museum.
Max Meijer and Petra Timmer are experts and world museum consultants who are familiar in Indonesia because of their role in sharing knowledge with museums in Indonesia. For example, the Ambarawa Railway museum, the National Museum in Jakarta and even the Panji museum in Malang. The same thing is expected with the Education Museum in Surabaya.
Apart from the education revival content, Max and Petra also started to become interested in the manuscript content displayed in the museum. Moreover, according to museum curator Agus, it was stated that the museum does not just display ꦄꦂꦠꦼꦥ꦳ꦏ꧀ artifacts, but also presents the meaning and message behind the physical artifacts through a number of activities. Among them are collaboration and networking with the community.
“We are collaborating with the ꦥꦸꦫꦶꦄꦏ꧀ꦱꦫꦫꦴꦗꦥꦠ꧀ꦤꦷ Puri Aksara Rajapatni cultural community to learn Javanese script as a step towards understanding the contents of the manuscript collection,” explained Agus to Max and Petra.
Agus explained in general while visiting the educational rides in the museum related to literacy that entering the museum, visitors were greeted with the ꦥꦿꦄꦏ꧀ꦱꦫ Pre-Literacy ride. That is the era when humans did not yet know letters as a medium of communication. This adultery illustrates ancient times when humans did not know letters, but only used symbols.
After the ꦥꦿꦄꦏ꧀ꦱꦫ Pre-Script zone, then enter the kingdom zone where script has begun to be known and used. Presented in that zone is a manuscript composed of and written on palm leaves and paper. According to curator Agus, there are not many manuscripts he has collected, but instead he tries to study them one by one to reveal the contents of the manuscripts in his collection.
To introduce the contents of the manuscript, he collaborated with a community that teaches Javanese script, ꦥꦸꦫꦶꦄꦏ꧀ꦱꦫꦫꦴꦗꦥꦠ꧀ꦤꦷ Puri Aksara Rajapatni. The form is the Javanese Sinau Aksara activity. He added that knowing Javanese script would be a step in getting to know manuscripts. How to network with communities that focus on Javanese script is a way
Among the existing manuscript collections, there are two that have been studied and will later become material in Javanese script classes. Apart from learning the script, ꦱꦶꦤꦻꦴꦄꦏ꧀ꦱꦫꦗꦮ Sinau Javanese Script participants will also learn this from the manuscript.
Meanwhile, Max and Petra, who increasingly understand the concept of the Surabaya Educational Museum, are increasingly willing to establish a cooperative relationship between the educational museums ꦯꦸꦫꦨꦪ Surabaya and Dordrecht. Moreover, in the city of Dordrecht, there is a museum that at certain moments holds Javanese script writing lessons for the public. Not for Indonesians but Dutch people. (nanang PAR)