Exhibiting Modernity and Indonesian Vernacular Architecture

In her research Yulia Nurliani Lukito analyses modernity and the construction of culture by the authorities using the images of Indonesian vernacular architecture presented at three different sites and times. She argues that modernity is not solely constructed by the authorities, rather it is an ongoing process modified by visitors of exhibitions. Pasar Gambir was a laboratory of modernity for the colony, and an important stage in modernizing and negotiating cultural and social conditions in the colony. The Dutch Pavilion at the 1931 colonial exhibition became a moment when the Indies heritages played a role in marking colonial territory. Modern ethnographic park of Taman Mini gives a way to the making of an official ‘authentic’ culture and suppresses the previous Dutch construction of the Indies culture.