Art as Politics: Re-Crafting Identities, Tourism, and Power in Tana Toraja, Indonesia
Art as Politics explores the intersection of art, identity politics, and tourism in Sulawesi, Indonesia. Based on long-term ethnographic research from the 1980s to the present, the book offers a nuanced portrayal of the Sa'dan Toraja, a predominantly Christian minority group in the world's most populous Muslim country. Celebrated in anthropological and tourism literatures for their spectacular traditional houses, sculpted effigies of the dead, and pageantry-filled funeral rituals, the Toraja...
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Art as Politics explores the intersection of art, identity politics, and tourism in Sulawesi, Indonesia. Based on long-term ethnographic research from the 1980s to the present, the book offers a nuanced portrayal of the Sa'dan Toraja, a predominantly Christian minority group in the world's most populous Muslim country. Celebrated in anthropological and tourism literatures for their spectacular traditional houses, sculpted effigies of the dead, and pageantry-filled funeral rituals, the Toraja have entered an era of accelerated engagement with the global economy marked by on-going struggles over identity, religion, and social relations. In her engaging account, Kathleen Adams chronicles how various Toraja individuals and groups have drawn upon artistically-embellished "traditional" objects as well as monumental displays, museums, UNESCO ideas about "word heritage," and the World Wide Web to shore up or realign aspects of a cultural heritage perceived to be under threat. She also considers how outsiders be they tourists, art collectors, members of rival ethnic groups, or government officials have appropriated and reframed Toraja art objects for their own purposes. Her account illustrates how art can serve as a catalyst in identity politics, especially in the context of tourism and social upheaval. Ultimately, this insightful work prompts readers to rethink persistent and pernicious popular assumptions that tourism invariably brings a loss of agency to local communities or that tourist art is a compromised form of expression. Art as Politics as promises to be a favorite with students and scholars of anthropology, sociology, cultural studies, ethnic relations, art, and Asian studies.
Acknowledgments ixCarvings, Christianity, and CHiPs 1Competing Toraja Images of Identity 35The Carved Tongkonan 73Mortuary Effigies and Identity Politics 111Ceremonials, Monumental Displays, and Museumification 139Toraja Icons on the National and Transnational Stage 167Carving New Conceptions of Community in an Era of Religious and Ethnic Violence 193From Toraja Heritage to World Heritage? 209Notes 217Glossary 247References 253Index 275
