Museums for the 21st Century is a series of professional development workshops and webinars that focus on three critical activities in museums and heritage centers: conservation, curatorial and research, and education. The program brings together scholars with the aim of helping provincial museums in Indonesia develop their future directions.

The Tracing Patterns Foundation has partnered with the Smithsonian Institution Asian Cultural History Program, Museum Ceria, Institut Konservasi, and the American Institute for Indonesian Studies to create this program.


M21 workshop team, from left to right. Front row: Ajeng Arainikasih, Sandra Sardjono and Kristal Hale. Back row: Christopher Buckley, Saiful Bakhri, and Robert Pontsioen.

Program Description

In December 2022, we conducted three on-site training workshops at the Museum Tekstil Jakarta, the Museum Kalimantan Barat in Pontianak, and the Museum Balanga in Palangkaraya. At each location, we offered three days of training, including site visits, demonstrations, discussions, and basic hands-on training. These trainings were open to people working in museums and regional cultural sectors. Each day focused on one of the critical museum activities.

In January 2023, we hosted an informal seminar for workshop participants. Working in groups, they focused on a museum object, researched its history, created a condition report and exhibition caption, and designed a museum trail activity.

In February 2023, the Tracing Patterns Foundation and the American Institute for Indonesian Studies hosted three webinars. These were moderated by M21 team members and invited American curators, educators, and conservators to share their work and practices.


M21 Team

  • Dr. Sandra Sardjono, Founder and President Tracing Patterns Foundation
  • Dr. Robert Pontsioen, Senior Research Fellow, Smithsonian Institution Asian Cultural History Program
  • Dr. Christopher Buckley, Research Associate, Tracing Patterns Foundation
  • Kristal Hale, Textile Conservator, Tracing Patterns Foundation
  • Saiful Bakhri, President and Conservator, Institut Konservasi; Ph.D. Student Conservation of Material Culture at the University of California, Los Angeles
  • Ajeng A. Arainikasih, Founder and Lady Boss, Museum Ceria; Ph.D. Candidate in Museum Studies, Colonial and Global History at the University of Leiden
  • Dr. Megan Hewitt, Executive Director of American Institute for Indonesian Studies

Museums for the 21st Century (M21)

Workshops in Indonesia (December 2022)



Program Sponsors

Funding for the M21 Program was provided by the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta through the U.S. Mission to Indonesia Annual Program Statement, PAS-Jakarta-FY22-02.

The M21 Program was supported by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology.