Abstract

The seminar considers museums as pertinent players in debates related to the promulgation of tobacco (and smoking) as cultural heritage in Indonesia. Specifically, it examines two museums – dedicated to tobacco, and kretek (or clove cigarettes) popularly consumed by Indonesians – as ambivalent spaces that seemingly condone, if not encourage, a practice seen by some as risky to self and others, thus rendering the museums problematic. In doing so, the paper reveals issues arising when ‘vice’ practices are presented as heritage and also how museums can become sites where morality may be simultaneously upheld and questioned.

Hamzah Muzaini is Associate Professor with the Department of Southeast Asian Studies, National University of Singapore. A cultural and heritage geographer by background, his research interests include the politics of memory and heritage in Singapore and Malaysia, and intersections between heritage and vice in Indonesia. He is co-author/editor of ‘Contested Memoryscapes: Politics of War Commemoration in Singapore’ (with B. Yeoh, 2016) and ‘After Heritage: Critical Perspectives on Heritage from Below’ (with C. Minca, 2018).

Online: https://bit.ly/4qHAj6S

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83903737431?pwd=ITJZdyWhTDa0GcmZUlu2I5wCwBHtLb.1

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