Australia Supporting Preservation of Presidential Palace Heritage Collections

Australia’s Ambassador to Indonesia Bill Farmer welcomed a University of Sydney team to Jakarta this week to deliver a training program for senior staff from the Presidential Palace Museums in Jakarta, Bogor and Cipanas.

“Australia appreciates that preserving the record of historical development of the Republic of Indonesia is a priority for the Indonesian Government. This project will contribute to this goal on a longer term basis,” the Ambassador said.

During the visit, Dr Jennifer Barrett, Director of Museum Studies, and Dr Chiara O’Reilly, lecturer at University of Sydney, will meet program participants and develop an understanding of the Presidential Palace Museum collections, management and administration

Six officers from the Presidential Palace Museums have been awarded Endeavour scholarships to undertake a tailored program at the University of Sydney from July until September 2008.

Through a combination of formal coursework and practical experience via an internship at Australian museums and conservation specialists, participants will be able to take a leadership role in capacity building within the Presidential Palace Museum in key areas relating to conservation, collection management, collection interpretation and museum administration.

“This training program will build people to people and professional linkages between Australia and the Presidential Palace through delivering high quality, specialised training to a key cultural government institution,” the Ambassador said.

Dr Barrett will also deliver a seminar for Presidential Palace Museum on latest Australian and international developments in the field of museum studies and conservation of heritage objects.

The visit is funded under the Australian Government’s IN2OZ: Creative Australia program of cultural diplomacy activities in Indonesia throughout 2008. More information on IN2OZ is available at http://ww.dfat.gov.au/in2oz

Media Enquiries:
Fiona Hoggart, First Secretary (Cultural) ph. (021) 2550 5260 mob. 0811 936 302