Expressing Islam: A study of the Bayt Al-Qur'an & Museum Istiqlal Indonesia and the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia

Abstract

National and state-sanctioned museums are authoritative public sites for exposition on subjects deemed important in national identity-building. Far from being neutral spaces of learning, museums are social institutions that selectively use objects and narratives to influence their visitors into behaving and responding to exhibitions in manners deemed desirable. Such socializing imperatives affect the shaping of any museum?s galleries. In Southeast Asian countries with significant Muslim populations, several national and private museums grapple to create authentic representations of Islam within the discourse of ?national culture?. Such attempts often reveal tensions between the museum?s representations and the reality of the modern and often ethnically and religiously plural societies. My thesis examines how the Bayt Al-Qur?an & Istiqlal Museum Indonesia and the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia attempt to define the role that Islam plays in the creation of their respective national identities.