U.S. Embassy Delegation Visits the Keuneubah Aceh Collection at MNI

Southeast Asia Museum Services (SEAMS) through the Koleksi Kita – Indonesian Museums Documentation Project, together with the National Museum of Indonesia, welcomed a delegation from the United States and the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta to view the collections featured in the digital exhibition Keuneubah Aceh.

Keuneubah Aceh is a digital exhibition presenting a number of historically significant Acehnese objects preserved at the National Museum of Indonesia. The exhibition was launched by SEAMS through the Koleksi Kita project, funded by the U.S. Ambassador Funds for Cultural Preservation (AFCP), in collaboration with the museum, on the Google Arts & Culture platform on 10 February 2026.

Exploring the Collection

The exhibition presents 42 selected objects dating from the period of the Aceh War (1873–1904). These objects have undergone provenance research, oral history documentation, and detailed recording using the Getty Vocabularies, a controlled vocabulary system developed by the Getty Conservation Institute.

During the colonial period, many of these objects entered colonial collections and were later transferred to the collection of the National Museum of Indonesia. Several of these objects are currently preserved in the museum’s collection storage.

The visit was attended by delegates from the United States, including representatives from the U.S. Embassy and alumni of U.S. programs in Jakarta, such as Grace Carroll from the U.S. Department of State, Washington DC, Emily Magaziner, Pira Vindiartha, Daniel Limantara, and Marry Marcela, who came to see the exhibition’s objects firsthand.

The event was opened by Dyah Pandam Mitayani, Project Lead for Koleksi Kita, who presented the main themes of the digital exhibition Keuneubah Aceh on the Google Arts & Culture platform.

The program continued with an object tour led by curators of the National Museum of Indonesia, who were also part of the research team that conducted field visits to Aceh for the study of the Keuneubah Aceh objects. The tour was accompanied by Ms. Indira Esti Nurjadin, Head of Museum and Cultural Heritage (MCB), and Muhammad Rosyid Ridlo, Head of the National Museum of Indonesia.

At the end of the visit, the delegation also had the opportunity to see several Acehnese objects displayed in the museum’s permanent exhibition, including the Alam Peudeung's flag.

About AFCP

The Keuneubah Aceh digital exhibition is one of the initiatives supported by the U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP), a program of the U.S. Department of State that supports the preservation of historic buildings, archaeological and cultural sites, museum objects and collections, as well as traditional cultural expressions around the world.

This visit provided an opportunity for SEAMS, the National Museum of Indonesia, and the delegation to explore the researched collections more closely, exchange knowledge on cultural heritage preservation, and introduce the richness of Acehnese culture to a broader audience.