The politics of (in)visibility: orientalism and Chinese representation in Indonesian museums

Abstract

This study utilises a visual methodology and Foucauldian discourse analysis, framed by postcolonial theory, to investigate how Indonesian museums construct the narratives of national identity, with particular attention to the underrepresentation of the Chinese ethnic minority. By curating a diverse corpus of museums across Java and Bali, the research reveals the nuanced ways in which museums legitimise the idea of “Indonesianness”, an identity constructed in the shadow of orientalism and colonial residues. The findings demonstrate that visual arrangements–such as object placement, image scale and spatial prominence–function as mechanisms of gaze that reinforce an orientalist worldview, wherein Western civilisation is positioned as a symbol of progress and modernity, while local knowledge systems are rendered traditional, thus subordinated. The study also exposes how Chinese Indonesians are either marginalised or essentialised–depicted as socioeconomically privileged outsiders or omitted entirely from national narratives. This (in)visibility reinforces the racial binaries of pribumi and non-pribumi, sustaining colonial legacy through postcolonial museum practices. The findings advance debates in museum studies, showing how visual politics in Indonesian museums sustains epistemic and symbolic marginalisation. The paper calls for decolonial curatorial strategies that critically engage with diversity and promote a more inclusive historical narrative reflective of Indonesia's pluralistic society.