Addressing mistaken attributions
Australian art collector Michael Abbott is supporting the initiative through a private capacity-building grant. He said widespread errors in the identification of Indonesian textiles prompted him to provide the funding: historical textiles from Lombok, immediately east of Bali, are often labeled as Balinese, obscuring Lombok's distinct heritage.
The research will extend beyond textiles. According to Abbott, the fellow will also help reassess where ceramics and other historical artifacts originated.
Museum head Ahmad Nuralam outlined the program in Mataram on October 29, during the launch of the book "Two Islands, One Thread: Lombok and Bali Textiles." Applicants must have demonstrated English proficiency and expertise in museum studies.
Training across three institutions
The Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA), Flinders University and the Botanic Gardens of Sydney will provide training for the selected staff member. Alongside conservation, the fellowship will cover education and public engagement, including the Sydney gardens' community program in which senior citizens serve as botanical guides.
Nuralam said he hoped the fellow's experience would help the NTB State Museum manage its collections and strengthen cultural diplomacy between Indonesia and Australia.
AGSA has already worked with the museum on a Lombok and Bali exhibition. Its Adelaide show, "Two Islands, One Thread: The Art and Cultures of Lombok & Bali," ran from May 15 to October 11, 2026. According to the gallery, it brought together previously unseen textiles from its collection, objects lent by the NTB State Museum and artworks donated by Abbott.
Abbott's support for Australian collections spans several institutions. The Australian Museum describes him as a South Australian lawyer who chaired AGSA's board for more than 10 years and has donated more than 1,000 Asian artworks to Australian institutions. In March 2021, he gave the Australian Museum in Sydney nearly 300 items, including Balinese and some Javanese textiles, masks, paintings and wood carvings. The gift brought its Balinese collection to about 1,200 items.
A shared research effort
Abbott also sponsored the book launched in Mataram. Reporting on the forthcoming publication in July 2026, RRI (Voice of Indonesia) described a volume of more than 500 pages intended to become a definitive academic reference. Eight Lombok-based researchers contributed alongside scholars from Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia.
According to RRI, work on the book began about three years earlier, with James Bennett, curator emeritus at Australia's Museum & Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, leading research coordinated with the NTB State Museum and local field researchers. The museum supplied eight photographs of historical artifacts for the documentation.
Abbott hopes the fellowship will lead to exchanges in both directions. "I hope this six-week internship develops into a mutually beneficial reciprocal relationship. Ultimately, I also hope to see someone from Australia come to Indonesia to study here (in Lombok)," he said.
