The Rise of Private Museums and Heritage in East and Southeast Asia

This book represents a groundbreaking study of the museum and heritage boom in East and Southeast Asia.

Through investigations of citizen-based respect for art, culture and history and by analysing the types of memory-work taking place in the private sector, the book reveals how the heritage and museum boom is linked to a broader range of societal, moral and cosmological concerns such as life-giving rituals and regimes of care. It presents a significant conceptual shift, both in terms of understanding the social, economic, religious and political drivers of the boom and the impact of local, regional and national contexts of identity, trauma, justice, and hierarchy. With contributions from a range of scholars across the globe and using original case studies and inter-disciplinary approaches, the book reveals the complex strategies and memorialising tactics at play and the transformations taking place inside private museums and heritage sites across East and Southeast Asia.

Delivering a novel analysis of the rise of private museums, heritage sites and commemorative activities across the East and Southeast Asia region, this will be a valuable resource to students and scholars of Museum Studies, Heritage Studies and Anthropology.