Introduction

The Presidential Museum of the Republic of Indonesia, Balai Kirti (abbreviated as PMRIBK), is located within the Bogor Presidential Palace Compound. It was inaugurated on October 18, 2014, by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who first proposed ideas for the museum in 2012. As he explained, the existing museum and library at the Bogor Presidential Palace did not fulfill the standards for a historical tourism destination. At the time, he designated the Bogor Presidential Compound as the location for the PMRIBK.

As the official website explains, the PMRIBK functions as a place for recreation and education, offering information through the management of exhibits that provide memorabilia and visuals of all the Indonesian presidents. Through these recreational and educational offerings, the PMRIBK hopes that visitors will be able to experience, appreciate, and follow the example of the achievements of each of the Indonesian presidents. For recreational and educational purposes, several historical interests that belonged to each president are placed in the museum. These objects are arranged in a particular room, also known as the Hall of Fame, to preserve their memories.

The term “Hall of Fame” can be translated into Indonesian as Balai Kirti. Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia defines “Balai” as a hall. The word “Kirti” is derived from Old Javanese Sanskrit and has several meanings: great deeds or an action that accrues fame. Thus, Balai Kirti means a hall that stores and exhibits historical objects that mark the journeys of the presidents of the Republic of Indonesia.

As in a Hall of Fame, the second floor of the PMRIBK, which is the Presidential Gallery, the focus of this chapter, presents paintings of each of the presidents, their memorabilia, items of clothing chosen for how they characterize individual presidents, photographs, videos, and awards received. The library is located on the same floor as the Presidential Gallery and displays presidential busts, while full-length statues representing each president are situated on the ground floor.

Although the PMRIBK is designed as an educational site, its exhibits do not offer informative historical narratives. Whereas museums function to disseminate historical narratives that aim to leave a lasting impact on visitors (Friss, 2006). And this does not only apply to museums because a hall of fame also has the same function, which aims to archive historical narratives.

Visitors can discern the hollowness in the narrative of the Presidential Gallery from the lack of thematic material for each of the presidential exhibits. In a museum display, such themes can mobilize at least part of the museum’s message about the past (Burgoyne, 2003). The museum exhibit can also be understood as an activity to remember or memorialize what it organizes since a museum also serves to mobilize discourses and messages about the past and frame how people remember them. In other words, a museum constitutes public memory itself.

Apart from the museum, public memory is also frequently linked to monuments, cultural parades, and other cultural heritage celebrations. For this reason, this chapter aims to offer recommendations for themes that highlight the outstanding aspects of each presidential exhibition and suggests that such themes can be inspired by existing popular memorialization.

History is the teacher of life (historia magistra vitae). For this reason, historical narratives that convey specific values offer lessons important to the nation. Frequently, a historical narrative is rooted in stories about heroic acts by culturally significant figures, including presidents. These narratives are to be found not only in written texts but also in monuments or museum exhibits. This chapter thus also offers a compilation of monuments, museums, and other memorabilia found in different places in Indonesia and suggests that PMRIBK uses existing knowledge to construct the narratives of each president.

Hollow Narratives in the Arrangement of Presidential Galleries

The lack of narratives in each gallery proffers a blank slate for the process of meaning-making. Such a process can be facilitated by depicting resonance and wonder in the organization of the museum. According to Greenblatt (1990), resonance is the power of a displayed object to transcend its formal limitations and arouse visitors’ interest through complex and dynamic cultural abilities so that visitors understand their positions. On the other hand, wonder is the power of a displayed object to capture a visitor’s gaze by constructing a uniquely alluring atmosphere that produces an elevated sense of intrigue. Visitors are expected to resonate with the collections’ sets and leave the museum with a more profound comprehension upon emerging from the interaction with the collections. After going through resonance, visitors are expected to experience and feel the wonder of the collections, or even of the museum itself.

The organization of the exhibits may move from wonder to resonance instead of from resonance to wonder (Greenblatt, 1990). Greenblatt calls boutique lighting a technique that allows this to happen, utilized to spark wonder by creating a sense of mystery from without (not within) the object, specifically using lighting equipment. This technique then constructs the mystical aura of the object. The use of boutique lighting is also strongly related to the element of the museum’s ownership, which is why museums warn people not to touch objects or take them home. If we take the lighting, a displayed object will lose this sense of wonder and once again become something ordinary. Apart from lighting techniques, wonder can be evoked by representing an object within a cultural frame that dynamically changes through time and space. In other words, it is not only the use of aesthetics (e.g., lighting) but also the cultural framing of a particular collection that can produce wonder.

The Presidential Gallery displays its collections through glass cases and lighting. There are two collections in each gallery, and each of them is placed inside a glass case. The Galeri Sukarno uses glass cases to show two collections: a piece of paper attached to a wooden board and a series of stamps. The former lists all the honorary doctoral degrees granted to Sukarno, while the latter are rare stamps commemorating Asian Games IV produced during the 1962 event. Two collections are also displayed in a glass case in the Galeri Soeharto. Both show awards granted to President Soeharto for his work respectively in health and education. In Galeri B. J. Habibie, the collections housed in the glass case are special awards, the 1992 Von Karman Award (ICAS) and the 1994 Edward Warner Award (ICAO Medal), as well as Habibie’s diary of his service as Minister of Research and Technology. For the Galeri K.H. Abdurrahman Wahid, the two special exhibits displayed in the glass case are the 1993 Magsaysay Award and the Honoris Causa Doctorate from Pantheon Sorbonne University, Paris, France, granted in 2000. Meanwhile, a vase and a tea set are displayed in two glass cases in the Galeri Megawati Soekarnoputri. Both artifacts were regularly used whenever President Megawati made an official visit to the Bogor Presidential Palace. As for the Galeri Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, visitors will find two objects displayed in glass cases: an award from the United Nations in the form of the helmet of peace and a mobile telephone the president used to communicate directly with the people through text messages sent to the number 9949.

In addition to the special collections displayed in the glass cases, the museum displays other memorabilia of the presidents in vitrine cabinets. However, being displayed in either a glass case or a vitrine, they are presented using lighting that enables visitors to gaze unimpeded. In addition, the lighting is also useful for maximizing the collection’s charisma. Glass cases and vitrines also work to construct the aura of the collections, but since there are no given narratives for the visitor to understand the context, the element of wonder remains elusive. Evoking wonder successfully can only be achieved when explanations are accompanying the exhibits’ arrangement regarding continuity and difference between aesthetics and contexts (Greenblatt, 1990). Until 2016, PMRIBK displayed as many as 276 collections, 70% of which are merely paper replicas.

While the core of mystery lies in the uniqueness, originality, and visual power of a collection (Greenblatt, 1990), resonance can only be achieved by arranging collections following particular characteristics. Besides uniqueness and originality, the idea of the fragility of a collection can also become a factor contributing to resonance. These qualities (especially fragility) can present a series of implied messages and questions through a displayed object.

The arrangement of the Presidential Gallery collections has not successfully presented a solid historical narrative about each president. There are attempts at filling the narrative hollowness using collections, but most of the exhibits are paper replicas. Therefore, the effects of resonance and wonder are not manifested. Because most of the collections are replicas, strong historical narratives are needed to accomplish the museum’s goal. This goal is stated in the Academic Script of the PMRIBK inauguration (Naskah Akademis Pendirian Museum Kepresidenan Republik Indonesia Balai Kirti), which is to recognize and honor the presidents of the Republic of Indonesia, as well as to introduce and preserve the different ideas, policies, and strategies made during their times of service.

Popular Monuments, Narrative Themes

Although not all the presidents have a specific museum dedicated to them individually, some have sites of memory consisting of tombs or places of residence closely associated with them. Such sites and monuments are spread across Indonesia. These memorabilia offer possibilities for constructing narrative themes to fill in the meaning that remains hollow in the Balai Kirti.

Sukarno

President Sukarno, the first president of the Republic of Indonesia, was buried in his hometown, Blitar. Unlike Lenin, who is buried in the mausoleum in the Red Square of the Kremlin, Sukarno is buried under a shady tree in a humble cemetery. In his last will, Sukarno also specifically asked that his tombstone be inscribed, “Here lies Bung Karno, the messenger of the people.” The words can now be found on Sukarno’s grave, inscribed on a large slab of black marble.

Not far from the location of Bung Karno’s grave, the National Library of the Republic of Indonesia has set up a Technical Implementation Unit (UPT), the Independence Proclaimer Bung Karno Library, which contains a collection of books on Sukarno’s thoughts as well as some relics: the dagger named Kyai Sekar Jagad, an ARCO-branded briefcase which Sukarno constantly carried in and out of prison, his tuxedo, and the gong named Kyai Djimat formerly owned by Sukarno’s family.

There are historical traces of President Sukarno’s legacy in the Sukarno Center, located in Tampaksiring, Gianyar, Bali. Managed by Yayasan Sukma Sukarno Indonesia, the Sukarno Center displays collections of President Sukarno’s photographs and belongings. Another monument located in Bali, in South Denpasar, is the Great Bung Karno Museum (Museum Agung Bung Karno), which is managed by Yayasan Kepustakaan Bung Karno. This museum also displays collections of paintings, photographs, books, speeches, and belongings of Sukarno.

One of the most pronounced attributes of President Sukarno, based on historical resources and popular memory, is his role as founder of the nation. His recorded voice declaring the Indonesian Proclamation of Independence is replayed for visitors to the National Monument in the square across from the Presidential Palace in Jakarta. The proclamation monument is also one of the places people visit during the celebration of Indonesian independence. Hence, one strong theme is Sukarno as a proclamatory of sovereignty and founder of the nation. Other than that, Sukarno’s heroic figure has grown out of many myths and attributes; some self-announced, like the titles “penyambung lidah rakyat” (“extension of the people’s voice”), “pemimpin besar revolusi” (“great leader of the revolution”), “waliyul amri” (“leader of the community”), and “Panglima Tertinggi” (“Supreme Commander”), were intended to describe Sukarno’s greatness (Salahudin, 2018).

The themes linked to Sukarno are the following:

  • First, “Son of the Dawn” was what Sukarno’s mother called him because he was born at the moment of sunrise. His mother was convinced that her son would be a noble person, a great leader of his people (Adams, 2014). This appellation seems to have been a force ensuring that he never betrayed his mother’s hopes.

  • Second, other public memories about Sukarno are his captivating speeches and orations from which the public inherited his charismatic sayings (Windarto, 2020). In every one of his speeches, Sukarno displayed his strong desire for unity, and it is thus no surprise that he is also known as a solidarity maker (Alfajri, 2019). During the revolution, Sukarno understood unity as a key to attaining independence: “Unity is what will take us to the fulfillment of our dream: Free Indonesia!” (Salahudin, 2018).

  • Even when he transferred power to General Soeharto, Sukarno called for unity. He called on the Indonesian people as a whole, on all leaders of society, all state institutions, and all members of the Indonesian Armed Forces, to continue to strengthen unity, guard and reinforce the revolution, and facilitate the execution of the bearer of Decree number IX/1966 of the Provisional People’s Consultative Assembly (MPRS) (“Penyerahan Kekuasaan kepada Jenderal Soeharto”, 2017) fully.

Soeharto

Soeharto is the second President of the Republic of Indonesia, and sources for constructing his image can be found in the Museum Purna Bhakti Pertiwi (MPBP), located in the Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (Widodo, 2010). The museum’s 22,406 displayed items are classified into three types: non-souvenirs, souvenirs, and awards. However, the existing collection cannot construct President Soeharto’s image fully since the collections of the MPBP have not been arranged according to a collection-based classification system. There have been no studies of the collections in the context of the museum. In other words, the arrangement of collections in the MPBP cannot convey any relevant information or knowledge that complies with the museum’s vision and mission statement. Furthermore, the MPBP has been closed to the public for management restructuring.

A counterpart of the MPBP would be the Museum Memorial Jenderal Besar H.M. Soeharto, which is in the village of Kemusuk, Bantul, Yogyakarta. Established at the initiative of Probosutedjo, President Soeharto’s younger brother, and managed by the Yayasan Wangsa Manggala, the displayed collections consist of Soeharto’s belongings during the period spanning the years between his military duty and his presidency. One remarkable collection is a diorama of resistance, which depicts his coordination with the Great General Sudirman during the armed offensive of March 1, 1949, against the Dutch. Another diorama depicts the time when President Soeharto was invited by the FAO to Rome in 1985 to receive an award for achieving food self-sufficiency. This event was followed on July 21, 1986, at the Binagraha building in Jakarta, when Soeharto hosted the Director General of the FAO, Edward Saouma, and officially accepted the gold medal from the FAO (Pour et al., 2014).

As part of nation-building, a country’s leaders make efforts to project symbols of unity by constructing popular sites like theme parks, establishing schools and universities, and public museums (Hitchcock, 1998). In Indonesia, the Taman Mini Indonesia Indah is such an example. Built by order of President Soeharto and his wife, Tien Soeharto, Taman Mini Indonesia Indah is a hybrid form of a famous national structure combining an open-air museum with a recreational park.

Taman Mini Indonesia Indah was designed to display the diversity of Indonesian ethnic groups and cultures and as an exhibit of the Pancasila state philosophy; it was also intended to enhance national consciousness (Hitchcock, 1998). A powerful theme of nation-building is found in a speech contained in the official guide, in which Soeharto emphasizes that Taman Mini Indonesia Indah is an effort to strengthen national development now and, in the future, (Hitchcock, 1998).

Possible narratives for Soeharto are, first, “Pak Harto Who is Never Far from the Peasants” (Pak Harto Tidak Pernah Jauh dari Petani). According to Gunawan Wahyu Widodo, curator of MPBP, Soeharto once declared, “my roots are in the village,” and he knows what the peasants need. This enabled him to launch a policy early in his tenure in which he prioritized the agricultural sector intending to achieve rice self-sufficiency. As one born and raised within the environment of a farming village, Soeharto understood the lives of the peasants. In the mid-1970s, Soeharto wished to gain information directly from the people through dialogues. He used the outcomes of these dialogues to plan several economic policies. He would visit the people by incognito trips to villages using a hardtop Toyota all-terrain vehicle rather than the presidential car. The incognito Presidential group never used more than three cars, including his adjutant and bodyguards, and traveled without ministers or even local officials” knowledge (Pour et al., 2014).

Second, Soeharto has been named The Smiling General, which suits him well. It was the German Handelsblatt newspaper that called him “Der lachende General” or, The Smiling General in English (Johnny, 2019). Soeharto’s characteristic smile is seen in every one of his portraits. Despite this, his smiles are not always easy to understand, and people may even misinterpret them. For example, Hayono Isman, Minister of Youth and Sports in Development Cabinet VI (1993–1998), thought that Soeharto approved of his organizing a seminar about the Nawaksara, when, in fact, he thought the opposite (Johnny, 2019). Meanwhile, Nawaksara is Soekarno’s accountability speech in front of the MPRS General Assembly on June 22, 1966. The speech contains the situation in Indonesia throughout 1965/1966 (Danang, 2021).

B.J. Habibie

According to the data in the museum repository owned by the Ministry of Education and Culture, there has not been any museum that depicts the figure of Prof. Dr. (HC). Ing. Dr. Sc. Mult. Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie (B. J. Habibie), the third President of the Republic of Indonesia. The story about him is instead portrayed through a movie titled Ainun dan Habibie. In addition to the silver screen, the love story between B.J. Habibie and his wife Ainun is also commemorated by a monument in the former president’s birthplace, Parepare, South Sulawesi. This monument was built in 2015 and is known as the Monument of the True Love between Habibie and Ainun. It is now a site to remember and pray for B.J. Habibie (Monumen Cinta, 2019).

In addition, another site linked to B.J. Habibie in the popular imagination is the house where he was born in Pare-Pare, which is about to become a B.J. Habibie Museum, was built in 2020, not far from the Habibie-Ainun True Love monument (“Rumah Kelahiran BJ Habibie di Parepare akan Jadi Museum,” 2019). In Gorontalo, the construction of a statue of B.J. Habibie holding an airplane was proposed to memorialize the fact that the third president of the Republic of Indonesia hailed from Gorontalo. His desire to officiate at the opening of the monument and park remained unfulfilled because he passed away before that (Dwinanda, 2019). He was replaced at the ceremony by his eldest son, Ilham Akbar Habibie, who formally opened the B.J. Habibi monument and park in Gorontalo in November 2019 (Dwinanda, 2019).

Yet another popular site for the memory of B.J. Habibie is the Habibie-Ainun Library in Patra Kuningan, Jakarta. This library is attached to the B.J. Habibie residence and holds the thousands of books that Habibie owned. It was his favorite spot to spend time. The books do not only cover subjects relating to machinery and airplanes but include a variety of subjects including arts and culture. The library also functions as a location for discussions and musical performances (Sukarlan, 2020).

Habibie also established the Habibie Center on November 10, 1999, in Jakarta. The official site for the place, habibiecenter.or.id, states that the Center was dedicated to the promotion and development of democracy in Indonesia because for B.J. Habibie democracy needed to continue to grow in a modern Indonesia.

These monuments and the popular imagination surrounding the figure of B.J. Habibie mean that there are several narratives possible about him: first, B.J. Habibie as the Father of Technology. The third president was an engineer and a true technologist. As president, he frequently described Indonesia through the analogy of a stalled aircraft that was pointing sharply downward and the only way to save this aircraft (Indonesia) was to end the stall and point it back up (Leksono, 2019). He also understood that, like an automobile, a country’s system could not properly be accelerated when the economy was running at 100 kilometers per hour while the political aspect was running at 40 kilometers per hour. Like a system built on many engines, all must move at the same pace. Thus, because of his love of science and technology, which he implemented for the sake of Indonesia’s greatness, Habibie is deserving of the title “Father of Technology” (Bapak Teknologi), as President Joko Widodo declared on his visit to the hospital upon learning of Habibie’s passing, “As many people recognize, Pak Habibie, who for a quarter-century carried the banner of technology, deserves to be named ‘Father of Technology’” (Leksono, 2019).

Second, as an aerospace engineer, B.J. Habibie earned the designation “Mr. Crack” because of the theory of Crack Propagation he developed on the progression of cracks in aircraft wings (Pour et al., 2014). He also developed the Method, Function, and Habibie Theory in the AGARD (Advisory Group for Aerospace Research Development) book (Pour et al., 2014).

Third, his extensive library collection shows that Habibie was not only a technocrat but also a man of letters (Sukarlan, 2020). He promoted the B.J. Habibie principle that a developed country needed both “hi-tech & hi-touch,” that is, sophisticated technology as well as high levels of culture and art. Through the Habibie-Ainun Foundation, he showed that the world of art held an equally important place as technology in his heart. For this reason, the Habibie-Ainun Foundation is dedicated to film, photography, literature, and music.

Abdurrahman Wahid

The fourth president of the Republic Indonesia, Kiai Haji Abdurrahman Wahid (also known as Gus Dur), is one of Nahdlatul Ulama figure, the biggest Islamic organization in Indonesia. He also founded the National Awakening Party (Partai Kebangkitan Bangsa). He is commonly remembered through the pilgrimage to his tomb, which is in the family cemetery in the Tebuireng Pesantren, in Diwek, Jombang, East Java. As many as 2000–3000 pilgrims visit the tomb daily, and the numbers rise steeply to a high of 10,000 shortly before and during Ramadhan. Such increase is attributed by two factors: first, Gus Dur was an ulama (a religious teacher), who was also respected as a wali (leader). Second, pilgrimages to the tombs are an annual Muslim ritual, usually taking place in the holy month of Ramadhan. These pilgrimages, however, are not restricted to Muslims; people from different religions and ethnicities also make the pilgrimage to Gus Dur’s tomb. Notably, during Imlek, the Chinese New Year, scores of Chinese citizens from the town of Jombang pay their respects and pray at his tomb to commemorate his fierce defense of Indonesians of Chinese descent’s rights (“Imlekan, Warga Tionghoa Jombang Ziarahi Makam Gus Dur”, 2015).

Gus Dur has also left a living heritage in the form of the Gusdurian network of followers and admirers. The Gusdurian network arose a few months after his death in December 2009 (“They Work at Grassroots Level”, 2017). This network now covers more than a hundred Indonesian cities and regencies. Coordinated by his eldest daughter, Alissa Wahid, the network is focused on social empowerment, strengthening civil society, disseminating Gus Dur’s ideas, and the formation of social leaders through capacity-building programs and advocacy on strategic issues.

Rumah Pergerakan Griya Gus Dur (Home of the Gus Dur Movement), located at Jalan Taman Amir Hamzah 9, Menteng, Central Jakarta, was the family home of KH Abdul Wahid Hasyim, Gus Dur’s father (The Wahid Institute, 2016). In January 2016, the residence was formally declared as the Home of the Gus Dur Movement by his wife, Shinta Nuriyah, and their four daughters, Alissa Wahid, Yenny Wahid, Anita Wahid, and Inayah Wahid. The Gusdurian Network Indonesia and the Wahid Foundation (formerly the Wahid Institute) currently have their headquarters at this home.

The Wahid Institute was established on September 7, 2004, as an organization to represent Gus Dur’s principles and intellectual aspirations (Wahid Institute, n. d.). It was initiated by Gus Dur and has now changed its name to Wahid Foundation. As explained on the website, Wahid Foundation remains true to the promotion of Gus Dur’s intellectual vision of humanity and the tolerance, social diversity, improving the welfare of the poor, developing of democracy and fundamental justice, and the growth of the values of peace and non-violence in Indonesia and throughout the world.

The fourth Indonesian president was steadfast in his love of democracy, humanity, and pluralism, as Gus Solah explained (Osdar, 2017). His love for humanity is also reflected in the vision of Wahid Foundation. His love of pluralism continues to spread even after his death and is memorialized by the Gus Dur Library, located in the Chinese Cultural Park in the Taman Mini Indonesia Indah park. The library was built by the ethnic Chinese to honor Gus Dur’s respect for pluralism (Khaerudin, 2019).

The narrative about Gus Dur should remain linked to the public memory of this multi-faceted man during his life. First, he is remembered as humorous person, who eased tensions with his frequent, spontaneous jokes (Hakim, 2018). Second, he is known as a humanist ulama with a deep concern for humanitarian values. Gus Solah, Gus Dur’s younger brother, said of him that he was steadfast in his love of democracy and pluralism (Osdar, 2017). Third, Gus Dur’s stature as a leader who promoted tolerance and universalism. His thinking that went beyond the symbols is rooted in universalist and tolerant Islam (Ibad & AF Fikri, 2012). For Gus Dur, the universal and tolerant values of Islam are teachings that promote openness to the inclusion of cultural and intellectual values. He was the protector of minorities, whether ethnic, religious, or other cultural aspects, a role that he understood as the manifestation of Islamic doctrine to be a blessing for all of the world (Pour et al., 2014). Fourth, Gus Dur is also known as the Father of Pluralism, which he manifested in pilgrimages to the tombs of individuals known for their service to humanitarian principles, be it the tomb of a Buddhist, or graves of individuals who might otherwise have been forgotten (Pour et al., 2014). He made efforts to end the violence in Aceh and did not hesitate to designate Papua for Irian Jaya, as a more culturally accepted by the people of that island. His pluralism extended also to an eclectic taste in food. Fifth, Gus Dur is also named a waliyullah (Hakim, 2018), for which reason people make ritual pilgrimages to his tomb, although some of his ideas were not easily understood and were at times considered controversial. As Pour et al. note (2014), Gus Dur was larger than life, and his thinking, attitudes, and actions were often ahead of his time.

Megawati Soekarnoputri

The fifth President of Indonesia, Megawati Soekarnoputri is the first female president of the country, and the daughter of Sukarno, the first president. However, there is as yet no museum dedicated to her. She has been a strong influential figure in the Partai Demokrasi Indonesia Perjuangan (PDIP, or Democratic Party of Indonesia for Struggle). The party is headquartered on Jalan Diponegoro, in Menteng, Central Jakarta, and she has been party head since 1999.

Some possible themes for Megawati are, firstly, as the First Female President of Indonesia and, secondly, as the Steadfast Woman. When Megawati became leader of PDIP in 1999, she took charge of a party with an enormous and unwieldy organizational structure with millions of members and cadres spread throughout Indonesia, including people of different religions, ethnicities, cultures, and backgrounds. Her leadership of the party has prevailed through serious tests and elections. She has also displayed integrity, refusing to compromise, and choosing instead to function as opposition (de Fretes & Hastuti, 2012). Her integrity is of particular importance as she faced electoral maneuvering that questioned the right of women to be president. Her strong will was evident early on in her political career when she shocked people with her decision in the early 1990s to join PDI (Democratic Party of Indonesia) as there had been a generalized commitment in 1982 that Sukarno’s children should refrain from political activity. Yet, when she was asked why she chose to join the PDI she smiled and calmly replied, “I am on the way to Merdeka Utara” (the location of the Presidential Palace). In other words, “I am making a great effort towards the Palace” (de Fretes & Hastuti, 2012). Thirdly, “The Brave Lady” is another appropriate theme. This was the title of a book launched by the former ministers of the Gotong Royong Cabinet on her 72nd birthday (Theodora, 2019). One of these was Purnomo Yusgiantoro, who served as minister of energy and mineral resources in her cabinet. He said that he had suggested the title “The Brave Lady” because of the courage she showed in making decisions. One example was the decision that she made to visit the United States immediately after the September 11, 2001, tragedy. As a result, Indonesia secured a commitment of Rp. 200 trillion in investments, an enormously significant amount at the time (Theodora, 2019).

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, popularly referred to by his initials, SBY, became the sixth President of Indonesia, having won the majority of votes in the second round of Indonesia’s first direct presidential election. Following the examples set by Sukarno and Abdurahman Wahid, he chose to take up residence at the Merdeka Palace for the duration of his presidency (“Presiden yang Tak Tinggal di Istana”, 2014), only moving temporarily to his residence in Cikeas, Bogor, to conduct party business involving political rather than national interests (https://kompas.id). This private residence in Cikeas has been the scene of many historical events including the idea to create the new political party, Partai Demokrat, that carried him to the Indonesian Presidency in 2004 and 2009 “SBY dan Kenangan Jejak Bersejarah Rumah Cikeas”, (2017) However, Cikeas also bore witness to the party’s loss in the 2014 General Elections.

Some themes are appropriate for Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono: the first being his popular designation as The Thinking General (Jenderal yang Berpikir) for the intellectual acumen he had displayed early in his life, and the fact that he ranked best in class throughout his education at the AKABRI, the Indonesian Armed Forces Academy from which he graduated with the prestigious honor of the Adhi Makayasa awarded to him by President Soeharto, as the best graduate of the Academy in 1973 (Pour et al., 2014). He further won recognition as the best military instructor at the Staff and Command School of the Army (SESKOAD) and continued to build his intellectual record throughout his military service and into his presidency, when he earned the Master of Arts in Management from Webster University and a Ph.D. in Agroeconomics from the Bogor Institute of Agriculture (Pour et al., 2014).

As a military instructor, he filled his time by working, reading, and writing articles. One of his works, a book that has been published by Army Command and Staff College in 1990, Professionalism of the Indonesian Armed Forces, Now and in the Future, was deemed “too progressive” because at the time he wrote it the Indonesian Armed Forces were still deeply committed to the Dwifungsi, or dual function in civil as well as military affairs. When he was appointed Chief of Staff for Social and Political Affairs (Kassospol) of the Armed Force, he oversaw transitioning the military to meet the demands of reform during the Reformation era. A paper he wrote in November 1998, “The Role of Military in Modern Society: ABRI in the Transitional Period in Indonesia” contributed to the conceptualization of the Indonesian Military (TNI) of the future (Pour et al., 2014).

A second possible narrative theme for SBY is “The Perfectionist.” Jusuf Kalla, who served as his Vice President during SBY’s first term, described him as a perfectionist (“JK Bandingkan Cara Kerja 2 Presiden: SBY Ingin Perfect, Jokowi Detail,” 2019). The desire for perfection is probably rooted in the need to preserve a balance between the physical and the spiritual and has led to a very careful, calculating attitude (Maeswara, 2009).

During the final moments of his presidency, SBY inaugurated the Museum Kepresidenan RI Balai Kirti in the Bogor Presidential Palace, and visitors to the museum encountered a plaque in the courtyard bearing an inscription of his statement:

Setiap Presiden ingin berbuat terbaik untuk bangsa dan negaranya

[Trans.]

Every President wishes to do the best for his/her nation and country

PMRIBK is not simply about presidential collections but also about memories. When the museum was first established, it served as a holder of memorabilia of SBY’s presidency. In the Ruang Epilog/Interaktif (Epilogue/Interactive Hall), visitors can watch a video showing photos of the inauguration of the PMRIBK. In addition, an examination of the exhibitions shows that the majority of collections are found in the Gallery of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (17%), which is also equipped with two video presentations in addition to the mandatory video wall found in each presidential gallery. The first video projection shows programs and achievements of SBY’s presidency; the other shows his life before being elected president.

Whether directly or indirectly, presidential monuments have constructed the figure of each president. Sukarno’s tomb, Soeharto’s MPBP, Pare-pare’s Monumen Cinta Sejati for Habibie, Gus Dur’s tomb, the PDIP headquarters for Megawati, and SBY’s residence in Cikeas each has its narrative centered on a particular president. The monuments are scattered in different locations, and none is dedicated to the memory of all Indonesian presidents. It is important to note that collective memories related to each president are influenced by different historical moments, including those that do not carry positive meanings, such as the fall of Soekarno, Soeharto, and Gus Dur. Considering the widespread locations of the monuments and the fact that the memories are not always positive, the PMRIBK museum might be understood as an attempt at depicting all presidents of Indonesia within a common framework, though not necessarily limited to a single narrative.

Critical Reflection: Redesigning the Gallery of Honor

Museums and halls of fame will change following societal shifts as they attempt to capture the social imagination through their visitors. How do these institutions serve their cultures and societies over time? They must of course carry a wide array of educational offerings as individuals have different ways of learning. This is in line with the constructivist theory of education that shifts the focus to the learners in the educational process and more varied ways of learning (Hein, 1998).

The monthly record of the PMRIBK visitors shows a high number of students compared to the general public. Yet, PMRIBK has no special place for the students, the majority of whom are elementary school students. The writers suggest in this chapter that a special space be reserved for elementary students to allow them to roam around freely. The space inside PMRIBK also needs to be designed in such a way as to make it more friendly and intimate, so that visitors feel free to explore and seek knowledge.

At present, there are three video walls with one film projected on the white wall for each president. However, the visitors have not been able to make use of the sense of smell (olfactory) and sense of touch in the museum. PMRIBK could provide a collection of each president’s favorite snacks or personal choice of perfumes. PMRIBK curators can recommend some collections that are safe to be touched by visitors.

To invite participation, an opinion board could be installed in PMRIBK. For example, in the gallery of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who was the initiator of the Bidikmisi scholarship, a question could be posed on the opinion board: “Are you the recipient of the Bidikmisi scholarship? Share your experience here.” By sharing their personal experience, visitors could directly make meaning out of the theme provided by the museum. At the same time, the curator could make use of the stories as an additional narrative relevant to the exhibition theme.

One social media used by PMRIBK is Instagram. Through Instagram, PMRIBK provides information about public programs and updated news about the Indonesian presidents. However, PMRIBK has not made use of Instagram as a medium to invite public dialogue. The social media account of PMRIBK has not served as a channel for public opinion. PMRIBK curators could open dialogue through their Instagram accounts by discussing their collection and inviting responses from the wider public about the exhibit. The responses can incite inter-follower dialogue globally, which can be used by curators to extend the content of the narratives according to the theme of the exhibition.

Conclusion

The lack of a theme for the galleries of the presidents shows that PMRIBK is still oriented toward its collections, although the theme of the exhibits are messages that ought to be conveyed by the museums, and how these messages are to be remembered. By including the idea of a hall of fame in its name, PMRIBK has created an opportunity to present historical memories that can be chosen from a wealth of existing popular memories. Because some of the memories surrounding each president may not be entirely positive, the hall of fame provides a space to preserve the fame of each president by choosing, organizing, and describing the past from all the different memories. This chapter has opened up several possibilities that may be activated by the PMRIBK through participatory activities involving visitors from all societal backgrounds to ensure that what is presented is not merely a collection of objects but also the collective memory of a nation.

The presentation of narratives based on themes can make it easy for visitors to obtain information and can provide them with the free choice of learning style. Visitors can choose and decide what subjects and practices they like to use to produce meanings. Thus, the aspect of poetics running through the themes that are embedded in the narratives and the constructivist approach can be interconnected to achieve meaning-making.

This constructivist approach assumes that museum visitors already have a background of knowledge, and the museum can expect to receive visitor feedback as a meaning-making activity through a physical dialog path using the Dialog Room and a virtual dialog path in cyberspace by utilizing social media that can reach out to the wider community.

The effort to hold a dialog between the museum and the visitors/community through the Dialog Room or social media provides space for the active engagement of visitors/community to participate in interpreting the meanings of the narrations and the museum collections as a result of meaning-making. The dialog becomes a means to interpret meanings through intellectual negotiations.

The presentation of theme-based narratives allows visitors to obtain information and grant them free choice of learning, particularly in determining and deciding what subjects and which practices they apply during the meaning-making process. Therefore, meaning-making is a perpetual process, in which meaning is continuously assembled due to the inexistence of constant meaning. With that said, the meaning-making process will always be ongoing. It is the space where the element of poetics is applied to a museum’s arrangement of exhibits.