Art as Politics : Re-crafting Identities, Tourism, and Power in Tana Toraja, Indonesia Hardback
by Kathleen M. Adams
Part of the Southeast Asia: Politics, Meaning and Memory series
Hardback
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Description
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"" promises to be a favorite with students and scholars of anthropology, sociology, cultural studies, ethnic relations, art, and Asian studies.
Information
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Available to Order - This title is available to order, with delivery expected within 2 weeks
- Format:Hardback
- Pages:304 pages, 35 illustrations, 15 in colour
- Publisher:University of Hawai'i Press
- Publication Date:30/08/2006
- Category:
- ISBN:9780824829995
Other Formats
- Paperback / softback from £28.33
Information
-
Available to Order - This title is available to order, with delivery expected within 2 weeks
- Format:Hardback
- Pages:304 pages, 35 illustrations, 15 in colour
- Publisher:University of Hawai'i Press
- Publication Date:30/08/2006
- Category:
- ISBN:9780824829995