My wife and I spent the Saturday afternoon at Museum Nasional Indonesia in Jakarta. The museum reopened in 2024 after extensive renovations, and the new building is stunning—modern glass-and-steel architecture paired with the preserved colonial-era facade.

The collection spans Indonesia’s archipelagic heritage: Hindu-Buddhist statuary from Java, ornate keris daggers with bird-headed handles, Toraja Midlo coffee beans, bronze vessels, and a massive ethnic map showing the diversity across the islands.

We took some time at the agricultural exhibit—seeing sorghum hermada seeds displayed alongside traditional grains, positioned as “hope for the future” in a country grappling with food security. Museums at their best when they connect past and present like that.

Worth the visit if you’re in Jakarta.