Historical narratives are constantly competing to accomplish “official history” or to counter it. The museum is one of the contested zones represented by this cabinet of curiosities. The exhibition focuses on the topic of repatriation in Indonesia, which is now in the process of returning historical Indonesian artifacts from several Dutch museums. While repatriation is undoubtedly a crucial activity, concentrating solely on it risks reducing historical contestation to just a matter of ownership claims.
In the display, a few selected objects from the collection of the National Museum of Indonesia are replicated using recycled wood. It illustrates how ownership changes continually transform and revitalize the objects’ meanings. The object acquisition process by museums is also rife with the affirmation of stories, many of which hide the terrible situations those artifacts witnessed in silence. The cabinet of curiosities induces a rigorous study to trace objects’ migration through ownerships and modifications as the essential condition of repatriation.
When we look closely, some everyday objects are juxtaposed with the collections, most of which are valuables from the Nusantara, suggesting they are equal. This equalization criticizes the nationalist historical narrative of the public museums. The feudal middle-class narratives still dominate national history and marginalize grassroots narratives. This work addresses how museums might serve as platforms for forming critical knowledge that goes beyond perpetuating historical anecdotes of triumphs.
Chabib Duta Hapsoro
