Storytelling, Cultural Heritage and Public Engagement in AkhirPekan@MuseumNasional

AkhirPekan@MuseumNasional or Weekend@NationalMuseum is a 3-month pilot project organized by @Museum, a museum consultancy, for Indonesia's National Museum in Jakarta, from September to December 2013. In this Sunday family program, @Museum collaborates with the renowned Teater Koma to produce short mini-theatre performances on historical stories, taking inspiration from selections of 140,000 archaeological collections. The performance is delivered at the specific gallery where the related artefact is on display. The purpose of this preliminary case study is to describe how AkhirPekan@Museum Nasional program uses storytelling to engage the public's interest in cultural heritage. By examining findings from post-event questionnaires, this writing captures that most of the audience had been primarily attracted by the storytelling. This case study concludes that public engagement with cultural engagement can be secured through storytelling.