JAKARTA – Learning how the initial journey of Islam entered Indonesia is certainly an interesting thing. Moreover, Indonesia is a country with the largest Muslim population in the world. We can find the answer at the Indonesia Islamic Art Museum.
Indonesia Islamic Art Museum is the first museum about Islam in Indonesia and one of the most complete in the world. The museum houses a large collection of Islamic art and valuable artifacts that mark the entry of Islam into the country.
The Indonesian Islamic Art Museum, located in Lamongan Regency, East Java, opened on December 28, 2017 as a form of appreciation for the increasing interest in Islamic art by collecting, maintaining and preserving Islamic art artifacts.
At the Indonesian Islamic Art Museum, visitors can see historical objects from Islamic kingdoms in Indonesia, such as historical objects from the Kingdom of Samudra Pasai, Aceh, Islamic Mataram, Gowa-Tallo, Demak and many others. There are also various ancient books by Walisongo that are more than a thousand years old.
For example, the book of Arabic interpretation. The book of Arabic interpretation explains about worship, faith, monotheism and the journey of the prophets. This book is estimated to have existed during the time of one of the Walisongo, Sunan Drajat. This Arabic tafsir is written in pegon letters.
There is also the painting “Macam Ali”. This painting illustrates the philosophy of “Macan Ali” which refers to the form of Islamic values approach in Arabic calligraphy containing two sentences of the creed. Macam Ali was also used as the greatness of the Kanoman Kingdom or the Sultanate of Cirebon led by Sunan Gunung Jati.
Then, there are also other Islamic art collections such as Islamic interpretation books, drum beaters with Muslim figures, keris with Arabic inscriptions, shadow puppets, krucil puppets and others.
Not only that, the Indonesian Islamic Art Museum also brings Islamic artifacts from various world Islamic kingdoms, such as Ottoman Turkey, Mughal India and Chinese Dynasties. For example, long-sleeved armor. This armor was used as protection in warfare by soldiers of the Ottoman Sultanate in the 16th century led by King Sulaiman the Great.
The armor was also equipped with leg guards, belts, hand guards, head guards and complete weaponry. All of these war equipment existed around the 16th century to the 18th century.
Then, there is also an interesting icon of the Indonesian Islamic Art Museum in the form of a statue of an Ottoman Muslim knight with armor and complete war equipment. This icon is in the center of the museum and is an interesting spot for visitors.
The Indonesian Islamic Art Museum also has a diorama zone that contains various replicas of Islamic civilizations such as traditional markets, grocery stores, Cheng Ho mosques, Cheng Ho ships, Dutch warehouses, Persian shops and many others. The atmosphere and background are made to look real, because it is adjusted to the type of replica.
What’s more, this museum keeps up with the times by being based on modern information technology Augmented Reality (AR). Thus, visitors can feel a different experience when visiting the Indonesia Islamic Art Museum.