National Textile Museum

The National Textile Museum, or Muzium Tekstil Negara, is a museum in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, dedicated to the preservation and exhibition of textile arts. Opened to the public on 9 January 2010, it occupies a historically significant building adjacent to the Sultan Abdul Samad Building in the heart of the city. The museum serves as a key cultural institution under the Department of Museums Malaysia, offering insight into Malaysia's textile heritage through permanent and rotating displays. Its establishment represented a significant investment under Malaysia's Ninth Plan (2006-2010), reflecting governmental commitment to cultural preservation.

The museum's origins trace to a 2005 cabinet decision. On 13 July 2005, the Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage submitted Memorandum No. 527/2468/2005 proposing the National Textile Museum's establishment. Construction began in October 2007, with the Department of Museums Malaysia overseeing conservation, exhibition fitting, and interior design from August 2007 to June 2009. The museum opened on 9 January 2010. The building itself, however, has a far longer history. Designed by English architect Arthur Benison Hubback and completed in 1905, it originally served as headquarters for the Federated Malay States Railways. When the railway administration moved to the Railway Administration Building in 1917, the structure passed to the Selangor Public Works Department. Over subsequent decades it housed the Selangor Water Department, the Malaysian Central Bank, the Agricultural Bank of Malaysia, Malaysian Craft, and finally the High Court (Appellate and Special Powers) from 2001 to 2004. The building was gazetted as a historical building on 13 October 1983 under Government Gazette PU (A) 423, Order of Old Monuments and Sites Historical Land (No. 3), Bendapurba Act 1976. It is officially designated as JKR Building 26.

The museum's collections are organized across four dedicated galleries: Pohon Budi Gallery, Pelangi Gallery, Teluk Berantai Gallery, and Ratna Sari Gallery. These spaces present the breadth of Malaysian and international textile traditions, encompassing techniques, materials, and cultural contexts of fabric production. The thematic organization allows visitors to explore different aspects of textile heritage, from traditional craft practices to the cultural significance of woven and dyed materials in Malaysian society.

While specific individual artifacts are not extensively documented in available sources, the museum's holdings are distinguished by their presentation within the four named galleries. The Pohon Budi, Pelangi, Teluk Berantai, and Ratna Sari galleries each curate distinct dimensions of textile culture. The Ratna Sari Gallery, for instance, typically features precious and ornate textile pieces, while Pohon Budi emphasizes the foundational knowledge and cultural roots of textile production. The Teluk Berantai Gallery and Pelangi Gallery complement these with additional thematic or regional perspectives on textile arts.

The museum building is a 2.5-storey structure occupying 3,145.3 square metres on a 3,259 square metre land parcel. Arthur Benison Hubback designed it in an Indo-Saracenic Revival style, also described as Moorish or Mughal-Islamic in orientation. Its distinctive appearance features alternating red brick and white plaster stripes, with a dome-roofed entranceway on Jalan Sultan Hishammuddin flanked by two rectangular oval-shaped columns. Two octagonal towers with concrete domes surrounded by smaller domes mark the building's sides. In 2008, a glass lobby was added to serve as the main entrance. The building's location places it in direct visual and historical dialogue with the Sultan Abdul Samad Building, which Hubback also designed in 1896, creating an architectural ensemble of colonial-era civic architecture in Kuala Lumpur's historic core.

The National Textile Museum is located at Lot 50, Jalan Sultan Hishammuddin, in the Public Works Department Section 70 of Kuala Lumpur. It is accessible on foot from Masjid Jamek LRT Station of RapidKL, situated to the southwest. The museum opens daily from 9 am to 5 pm, with last ticket purchase at 4:30 pm. It closes on the first two days of Raya Aidil Fitri and the first day of Raya Aidil Adha. Admission is structured by visitor category: Malaysian citizens pay RM 2.00; elderly and disabled visitors (OKU) pay RM 1.00; children aged 12 and under, high school students in uniform, and ICOM members enter free. Non-Malaysian citizens pay RM 5.00, with children aged 6 to 12 at RM 2.00 and those under 6 free. The museum operates under the Department of Museums Malaysia, within the Ministry of Information, Communication and Culture, and maintains an official website at muziumtekstilnegara.gov.my.