Australia-Indonesia Institute to fund an exchange of museum staff between Medan and Wollongong

Dec 12, 2003

Two Indonesian museum staff visited the University of Wollongong on Wednesday 10 December to meet University staff and tour its facilities.

North Sumatran museum director Dra Sri Hartini and her chief education officer Marsiria Sebayang visited the University as part of two weeksof training and site visits at museums in Wollongong, Sydney and Canberra, in an effort to learn more about Australia's museum practices.

In 2002 Wollongong City Gallery's 'Tracking Cloth' exhibition toured Indonesia. Wollongong University was one of the major sponsors of thisimportant exhibition. The exhibition illustrated that Australian artists had been positively influenced by their experiences of Indonesia. Thisdemonstrated to a wide audience that Australians respected the Indonesian people and their culture.

In an extraordinary expression of warmth, theIndonesian President Mrs Megawati Sukarnoputri stated that "the exhibition had created a symbol of goodwill between two neighbouring nations".

Bill Richardson, Director of the Australia-Indonesia Institute (AII) said the AII had agreed to support relationships developed during the Tracking Cloth exhibition by sponsoring an exchange of museum staff between Medan in North Sumatra and Wollongong.

"The project involves an exchange of staff for the purpose of training and professional development. Musicology is an developing field in Indonesia anda public appreciation of the role of the museum is gaining greater exposure and relevance as Indonesians examine their national identity in a global community", Mr Richardson said.

Peter O'Neill CEO Wollongong City Gallery, said, the State Museum of North Sumatra had a significant collection of Indonesian textiles and WollongongCity Gallery wishes to draw upon their expertise to learn how to manage an Indonesian ikat and batik collection that will come into our permanentcollection in the near future.

"A public display of Indonesian textiles willtell stories about the social and cultural complexity of Indonesia. This will play an important role in informing both our communities about the language of cultural expression and mutual respect," Mr O'Neill said.

"The exchange of staff isa wonderful opportunity to explore new ways of cooperating between Indonesiaand Australia in the field of the arts and arts management," he said.

Rob Goodfellow Development Manager, Wollongong City Gallery said the visit had opened up some very exciting opportunities for cooperation betweenthe Museum of North Sumatra and the University of Wollongong, particularly in thefiled of musicology, of which the Museum of North Sumatra is a leading Indonesian institution.