Opening Access to Cultural Heritage through Digitalization and Wikimedia Commons 

In 2025, Wikimedia Indonesia, through the GLAM Indonesia Grant, supported several projects that bring together cultural preservation work with digital technology. This program is aimed at researchers, practitioners of art and culture, archivists, and communities working in the fields of galleries, libraries, archives, and museums. One of the program’s goals is to produce works that can be openly shared with the public through Wikimedia projects.

In its implementation, the two GLAM Indonesia 2025 Grant projects demonstrate different approaches to reopening access to cultural heritage. Illuminating Manuscript Ornament: From Royal Frames to Digital Commons processes the ornamental designs of Nusantara manuscripts into open digital visual assets. Meanwhile, the Digital Archiving for Banda Cultural Museum focuses on the documentation and digital archiving of a museum’s collection in Banda Neira.

Reviving the Ornamentation of Nusantara Manuscripts 

The project Illuminating Manuscript Ornament: From Royal Frames to Digital Commons is carried out by Abrid Madilantoro and Tyas Panorama Nan Cerah in Yogyakarta. This project stems from an interest in the illumination or decorative motifs found in Nusantara manuscripts and how these visual elements can be reintroduced through a digital illustration approach.

The process begins with the search and collection of manuscripts through direct visits and digital collections. Direct searches were conducted at the National Library of the Republic of Indonesia, the National Museum of Jakarta, and the Sonobudoyo Museum in Yogyakarta. Meanwhile, several digital collections were explored through the National Library of Indonesia, the British Library, the Library of Congress, Leiden University Libraries, and the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin. From this process, eight manuscripts were selected that were deemed to represent the major regions of the Archipelago. The manuscripts then became a source for reconstructing illumination elements in the form of digital illustrations.

From Manuscript to Open Visual Asset 

The illustration process was carried out over approximately five months with an initial project target of 40 manuscript illuminations. In its execution, the project successfully produced 71 unique illuminations from eight manuscripts, surpassing the set target.

One of the approaches used is the modular illustration method. Ornamental elements are not only created as a single cohesive composition but are also broken down into visual parts that can be reused more flexibly. Through this approach, the project produced around 1,259 modular visual elements. Thus, the project’s results are not only complete illustrations but also a collection of elements that can be utilized for educational, research, and design practice needs.

All the illustrations are then published as open visual assets through Wikimedia Commons. The public can freely access and reuse these assets in the Vektorisasi Iluminasi Manuskrip category.

One of the illuminated manuscript illustrations resulting from digital reconstruction (Wikimedia Commons)

Tracing the Collection of the Banda Cultural Museum 

The second project, Digital Archiving for the Banda Cultural Museum by Luna Hapsari and Kris Kelly. This project focuses on efforts to open access to the Banda Cultural Museum’s collection in Banda Neira.

Rumah Budaya Banda is a museum initiated by historian and diplomat from Banda Neira, Des Alwi. In 2025, the museum underwent revitalization with a decolonial approach that placed local knowledge as an important part of presenting history. The open curatorial concept also allows Banda’s history to be understood from more than one perspective. Through the support of the GLAM Indonesia 2025 Grant, the digital archiving process is carried out as an effort to expand access to the Banda Cultural House collection. The results of the documentation were then compiled and made available through Wikimedia Commons.

Documentation of one of the collections at Rumah Budaya Banda (Wikimedia Commons)

The digitized collection includes various items related to the history and culture of Banda. One of them is the betel nut container collection, along with other artifacts such as lentaka or Sultanate-style cannons, which can now be found in the Rumah Budaya Banda category on Wikimedia Commons.

Digital Archives as a Shared Knowledge Space 

Digital archiving is not only about transferring physical collections into digital form. Openly available documentation also allows information about the collection to be discovered, studied, and further developed by the community.

In the context of the Banda Cultural House, the digital archive also serves as an open invitation for the community to contribute additional information about the collection, history, and culture of Banda. Thus, the archiving process does not stop at documentation activities, but can develop into a collaborative process in building knowledge. This approach aligns with the goals of the GLAM Indonesia Grant, which encourages project outcomes to be accessible and shareable with the public through the Wikimedia ecosystem.

Reflection and Next Steps 

The implementation of both projects shows that the process of digitization and opening access to cultural heritage has its own challenges.

In the manuscript illumination project, for example, not all of the discovered collection has complete information and metadata. Some of the collection is also not yet available in digital form. This condition requires researchers to seek alternative sources that have more adequate metadata and documentation. That experience highlights the importance of collaboration between the community, researchers, Wikimedia, and institutions managing cultural collections. Strengthening collaboration with institutions such as libraries, museums, and archival agencies can help ensure that the results of digitization are not only available online but also connected to the broader ecosystem of Indonesian cultural knowledge.

In the end, the GLAM Indonesia 2025 Grant demonstrates that cultural preservation can be achieved through various approaches. Manuscripts can be studied through their visual ornaments, museum collections can be documented digitally, and both can be brought into shared spaces that allow more people to see, learn from, and reuse them. From the pages of manuscripts and museum spaces, cultural heritage can now be present in the Commons as part of shared accessible knowledge.