David Archuleta, the runner up of the seventh season of American Idol, is performing in Senayan for the Pond's Teens Concert this Saturday night (July 16, 2011). Surprisingly, he made time to visit the National Museum of Indonesia (Museum Nasional, which is also known as Museum Gajah because of the elephant statue in its front yard) to know more about Indonesia. [caption id="attachment_123210" align="aligncenter" width="387" caption="David Archuleta and his group in front of the map of Indonesian volcanoes"][/caption] It's rarely for the Indonesian Heritage Society, a non-profit organization supporting the Museum Nasional in conducting guided tour in English or in other foreign languages, to receive a tour request from a celebrity who's also an idol to the Indonesian teens. Hellen, one of the Indonesian volunteer tour guides, took David Archuleta and his group to visit the Indonesian archipelago for about an hour in the famous Museum Gajah. The tour impressed David, especially for its variety of stone sculptures collection and also with the sets of gamelan in the museum. [caption id="attachment_123212" align="aligncenter" width="429" caption="South East Asia related through the Dong Son drum"]
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[/caption] Googling through the internet, it's obvious that David Archuleta has his special interest in museums. He also mentioned his visit to the Museum Gajah in his tweetply and upadated his blog with this special visit, "Just went to the Museum Gajah and learned about some Indonesian culture and history. Really cool." Museum Gajah as the National Museum of Indonesia is actually a way to learn a bit about Indonesia for those who only have limited visiting time. The museum's collection is a large collection gathered since the foundation of the Royal Batavian Society of Arts and Sciences in 1778. No wonder if the richness of culture and history of the Archipelago impressed David Archuleta. [caption id="attachment_123214" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="David Archuleta"]13108390681810491295
[/caption] It's nice to learn that a star like him, who began winning talent competition since he was ten years old, still have time to develop a passion for museums, and do care to share it through his online activities. His visit to the Museum Nasional was actually awesome considering the tight schedule he has in Jakarta. Hopefully his visit to the National Museum of Indonesia, which brought him a bit closer to the Indonesian Archipelago, can bring him back to visit his fans across the archipelago. (Thanks to Hellen for the information, and thanks to Febby for the pictures).