Once a place where visitors came solely to view old artefacts, the museum has now been brought to life with programmes, digitisation, and interactive elements designed to attract younger audiences.
National Museum director Zamrul Amri Zakaria said programmes that connect with the community have proven especially effective in attracting visitors.
He said the programmes had been warmly received, with visitors often giving positive feedback and asking for them to be held again because they were not satisfied with just one session.
“For example, participants of the ‘A Night at the National Museum’ programme said it was a very valuable experience and should be held twice a year. It is the same with other programmes…very encouraging,” he told FMT.
He said among the museum’s most anticipated annual events is Nostalgia Anak Kampung, which features themes such as Temasya Riuh Sekampung (2025) and Kenduri Kendara (2024), encouraging visitors to revisit aspects of village life that are increasingly being forgotten.
“For this annual event, we received around 15,000 to 25,000 visitors, and smaller monthly programmes usually exceed their targets.
“As of November, total visitor numbers have exceeded 500,000, and we are targeting 600,000 by year-end,” he said.
A more diverse audience
Since being placed under the oversight of the national unity ministry, led by Aaron Ago Dagang, the National Museum has drawn a more ethnically diverse audience.
Zamrul said that while over 60% of visitors in the past were Malays, recent campaigns had successfully attracted people from all communities.
By 2024, the museum had recorded more than 437,000 valuable collections, including 322,966 archaeological items such as ceramic fragments, stone tools, metal and wooden objects, votive tablets, beads, stone sculptures, and charcoal.
Digital initiatives are also transforming the visitor experience through the use of the National Museum AR app that provides information in 2D and 3D augmented reality (AR), digital walls, informative kiosks, and interactive materials to enhance learning.
“Teenagers nowadays prefer listening and watching over reading. With interactive visuals, they understand better.
“Most visitors may have come once in the past but never returned. We want them to come back,” he said.