Cartoon Museum of Indonesia:
New Tourist Attraction in Bali

Are you a cartoon enthusiast? Perhaps you are a cartoonist who is luxuriating in holiday in Bali? Today, apart from filling in your holiday with a variety of tourist attractions available in Bali you can also drop in at the Cartoon Museum of Indonesia. It’s the first museum in Bali exhibiting myriads of cartoons.

Museum Council members Pramono R. Pramoedjo, GM Sudarta, Ida Bagus Martinaya, Priyanto Sunarto, Praba Pangripta, Jango Paramartha and Cece Riberu collected hundreds of cartoons and caricatures after hunting about in a search for them. They are the works created by Indonesian cartoonists like Pramono R. Pramoedjo, GM Sudarta, Dwi Koendoro, Priyanto Sunarto and so forth that are on show at the museum located in Kuta area.
For the initial exhibition 292 cartoon works assessed to have value and momentum have been selected. The value given emphasis is that such work has quality and significance when it was published in the printed media of Indonesia. Momentum stands for such work which has won a competition both in the national and international level or related to controversial issues, or it has reaped a protest from other parties. In short, these cartoons become special due to such heritage.
This cartoon museum was founded by the Cartoonists Association of Indonesia (PAKARTI). According to Pramono R. Pramoedjo the museum has come to be the home to cartoonists to exhibit their works. Moreover, he added the museum is intended as an effort to place the cartoon and caricature works of Indonesia in the artistic context, so that it could be appreciated and has a value as that of other arts.
The theme selected by these cartoonists varies starting from the frivolous to the more serious and to several social phenomena coming about in Indonesia. Other cartoons no less attractive can be found here such as various cartoons of Indonesian figures ranging from the first President of Indonesia, Soekarno, and the former Presidents of Indonesia like Soeharto, Gusdur, Megawati and the current President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Other cartooned figures are Osama bin Laden, Aung San Su Kyi, the US President, George Bush, Libyan leader, Mohamar Khadafi and the former President of Iraq, Saddam Hussein.
Hopefully the establishment of this cartoon museum could enrich the tourist attraction of Bali so visitors traveling to Bali will never get bored. On the other hand, the museum also plays a significant role as a public educational facility, to be capable of showing understanding for quite a few of life’s problems through the art of caricature and cartoon. (BTN/008)