CHAPTER TWO

IMAGINEERING CULTURAL HERITAGE

FOR LOCAL-TO-GLOBAL AUDIENCES

NOEL B. SALAZAR

In 1994, the Walt Disney Company was taken by surprise when its
plans to develop a lucrative American history park near Manassas,
Virginia, the site of a major battle during the Civil War, was met by
protests from various organisations, advocacy groups and thousands of
concerned citizens (Synnott 1995). Part of the reason the plan was
abandoned, according to the company, was that the people of Manassas
and surrounding areas had fought the development of the theme park
claiming that the "true" history of not only the Civil War, but of all of
"America", would not be told there. These were some of the first public
(i.e. non-academic) protests against Disney's alleged co-optation and
perversion of heritage in the creation of its products. The company's
department responsible for such reinventions of the past is aptly called
Disney Imagineering, a neologism denoting the combination of creative
imagination and technological engineering in the "theming" of goods,
services and places, so that visitors develop memorable experiences of
their visit (Imagineers 1996). A perfectly imagineered attraction makes
you feel like you are on a journey that transports you to a different place or
time and completely engulfs you in a new world. It makes a story
convincing by engaging all senses and moving peoples' emotions within a
fantasy environment in which, paradoxically, the fantasy feels completely
real.
Disney's innovative methods have been successfully copied elsewhere.
Some of the key elements of the imagineering process-easily consumable
images, the presence of icons, spatial definition and coherence, and the
management of traffic flows-have been applied across the globe to create
attractive landscapes of leisure. Depending on the theme, the images,
imaginaries and representations relied upon and manipulated differ.
Interestingly, the myths, histories, and fantasies imagineers draw upon to
 Imagineering Cultural Heritage for Local-to-Global Audiences 51
50 Chapter Two

it as simultaneously ethnically diverse, but unified in one national culture.

appeal to the visitor's desires and imaginations can be either ones
A historically themed park serves to underline the message that the
associated with the locality where the attraction is based or others that are
nation's foundation are its people, its different customs and cultures, held
more widely circulating, from the most spectacular fantasies to the most
together by (often invented) common traditions. As Dahles notes, "[t]hese
mundane reveries. In the context of developing countries, for instance, the
cultural displays provide ... nations with the opportunity to come to terms
imaginaries or unspoken representational systems that enact and construct with the rapid transformations brought about by modernisation." (2001,
peoples and places draw upon colonial and postcolonial visions of Self and 12). By integrating minorities into a coherent visual narrative, a national
Other that circulate (both within and between cultures) through global heritage park promotes a sense of both nationalism and modernity.
entertainment media, (travel) literature, and academic writings in disciplines However, in multi-ethnic postcolonial nations such as Indonesia and
such as anthropology, archaeology and history (Salazar 2008, 2010a). Tanzania, this process unavoidably involves decisions "as to which
Since such imaginaries are multi-scalar, themed eiwironment developers cultures to privilege and which to ignore." (Stanley 1998, 59). Because
can use any number of cultural representations at any scale to present a imagineering simplifies peoples and places for easy consumption, themed
seemingly cogent image, no matter how inaccurate, that is attractive to environments inevitably become sites of struggle and the production of
visitors. "unity in diversity" through multicultural displays opens up debates about
This chapter critically analyses the imaginaries at play in heritage and whose heritage is being represented, promoted, narrated, and for whom.
heritage-themed sites. What happens when imaginaries of the past are Consolidating the cohesion and the unity of the nation through heritage
institutionalised, standardised or commoditised? Across the globe, parks clearly comes at a price. The examples below from Indonesia and
sanitised versions of heritage are replicated and converted into sellable Tanzania illustrate the issues at stake.
products. Such imagineering tends to be conservative, a flattening and
faking that continues to serve the status quo. Rather than embodying 111:
culture and history, imagineering has the tendency to "signify and Taman Mini Indonesia Indah
symbolise" (Teo 2003, 547). Simplified themed environments function as
signifiers that enable tourists to identify quickly with attractions. Rather Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (Beautiful Indonesia in Miniature) is a
than explore and discover, visitors are given exciting and exotic, even if 160-hectare open-air park, situated on the southeastern edge of Indonesia's
predetermined, images and imaginaries to consume. This chapter capital, Jakarta. It was conceived by Siti Hartinah, the spouse of General
illustrates some of the issues at hand by way of ethnographic case studies Suharto, after visits to an analogous project in Bangkok, Thailand and to
from Indonesia and Tanzania, showing how heritage environments are Disneyland in 1971 (Pemberton 1994). The park was established in 1972
cleverly used to (re)produce as well as contest currently dominant and officially inaugurated in 1975. Taman Mini is centred around a vast
domestic and international imaginaries of postcolonial nations and their reflecting pond containing small artificial islands that form a large natural
people. The spatial as well as temporal comparisons serve to highlight map of Indonesia, accessible by pedal boat but best viewed from the cable
that, despite the different socio-cultural, geo-political and economic car or elevated train that pass overhead. From the air, one sees alongside
contexts (see Salazar 2010a), the processes and dynamics at work are the mini-archipelago twenty-six massive pavilions, one for each
strikingly similar (Salazar 2007). Indonesian province in existence at the time the park was built. These
constructions form the heart of the national heritage park. The pavilions
are dominated by traditional rumah adat (customary houses), containing Ill
Building modern postcolonial nations sanitised permanent exhibits of arts and crafts and the customs and
through historically themed parks lifestyles of the peoples from the province, typically the costumes they
might wear at a wedding, the furniture they use in their homes, and their
In his book Imagined Communities, Anderson (1991) describes how jewellery. Sometimes it is possible to taste local food, browse through
the popularisation of heritage plays a pivotal role in the forming of nations tourism brochures, or purchase souvenirs. During the weekends, there are
as imagined political communities. It is no coincidence that young often free traditional dance performances, films and cultural shows. Apart
countries around the world, especially postcolonial ones, have seen in from a series of theme museums, there is also an orchid garden, a bird park
national heritage parks a unique vehicle to build their nation, by portraying
52 Chapter Two Imagineering Cultural Heritage for Local-to-Global Audiences 53

and a fauna museum, all examples of the country's rich natural heritage. It (Boellstorff 2002). As Adams notes, "all of the regional exhibits display
would take a week to visit everything. To make the park available to the material from the same set of categories (weapons, dances, marriage
Indonesian public, the entrance fee is low (9,000 IDR or less than 1 EUR, garments, baskets, etc.), regardless of the relevance of these categories to
with only nominal extra fees to visit the gardens or museums). The the local groups in question." (Adams 1998, 85). Adherence to this
additional recreational facilities (especially for children) make Taman uniform set of categories conveys the message that in spite of superficial
Mini a fun place to visit and a popular destination for a day out with the differences, there is inherent commonality between the diverse ethnic
family. Indonesian visitors far exceed the numbers of foreign tourists. groups (cf. Acciaioli 1996). In Boellstorff's words, "after all, what is
The rationale behind the national heritage section of the park was to Taman Mini if not model for a human zoo where ethnolocalities are
give visitors a glimpse of the diversity of the Indonesian archipelago in a habitats-cages for culture-and the state a zookeeper?" (Boellsdorff
single location, as a symbol of the country's motto of Bhinekka Tung gal 2002, 31).
Ika (Unity in Diversity). Taman Mini is one of the most deliberate and
overt efforts of the Indonesian government to make use of "local
traditions" to display Indonesia as "a nation of cultures". Even before the
park was opened, scholars were already analyzing the ways in which the
project revealed state-imagineered conceptions of culture and power
(Anderson 1973). Anthropologists too have, each in their own way, tried
to make sense of Taman Mini (Pemberton 1994; Acciaioli 1996; Errington
1998, 188-227; Hitchcock 1998; Bruner 2005, 211-230). Many have
focused on how the park represents the past as an integral part of the
future, through a present which is continuously rendered as cultural icons
of regional tradition and serves as a tangible expression of modernisation
(Anderson 1991, 176-177). Major General Suharto's New Order
government ( 1965-1998) sought to identify one single cultural type for
each province, and to play down the extent and breathe of the actual ethnic
diversity they had inherited from the Dutch colonial era (hereby erasing
the difference between past, present, and future) . 1
The obsession with connecting the past and future in the form of the
present finds prolific expression at Taman Mini through numerous so-
called monumen (monuments): miniature replicas of ancient monuments, Fig. 2-1: Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (Beautiful Indonesia in Miniature)
memorial monuments, and commemorative inscriptions (Pemberton 1994).
The name of the park is significant too, "as in it the cultures of From the very beginning, Taman Mini was envisioned as a twin project
Indonesia's constituent provinces have been extracted as objects of of raising national consciousness and developing tourism. Unfortunately,
'beauty'." (Yamashita 2003, 44). In the logic of Suharto's New Order (to most scholars have focused on the former and neglected the study of the
distinguish his policies from those of his predecessor Sukarno), a latter. Suharto himself strongly believed that tourism would increase
flattening of both time and space, the simulacrum of Taman Mini actually (foreign) revenue, enhance the nation's international status and foster
exceeds the real Indonesia because it is less confusing, more ordered, and domestic unity. In the period that Taman Mini opened, his government
can be understood and experienced as a whole. 2 allowed the Directorate-General of Tourism to play a more active role in
Diversity is represented for the most part as differences between the management of cultural heritage, including both historical monuments
domesticated different-but-same administrative regions rather than and traditional folk art (Dahles 2001). The link between domestic tourism
between local cultures or societies. Taman Mini thus draws together and nationalism was clearly encoded in Indonesia's 1983 fourth Five Year
ethnicity and reinvented locality so that each presupposes the other Plan. As Adams points out, the fact that Indonesia did not have a Ministry
 ...
lmagineering Cultural Heritage for Local-to-Global Audiences 55
54 Chapter Two

often notably absent in Taman Mini. Since the fall of Suharto in 1998,
of Tourism, but rather a Ministry of Tourism, Post and Telecommunications,
some provinces are bringing their people in because they now use their
reflected "the premise that tourism is inseparable from communications
pavilion at Taman Mini to promote tourism to their region. Because seven
and, hence, nation-building." (Adams 1998, 85).
new provinces have been created since 2000, Taman Mini needs some
While the park embodied the national identity constructed by the New
rethinking. The park does seem to have some adaptive capacity as is
Order during its glory days, its fate after Suharto' s forced resignation in
exemplified by the pavilion of the breakaway former province of East
1998 is symbolic of the wider crisis of the Indonesian national project.
Timor, which has become the Museum of East Timor, a memorial to the
Since then, the park has faced declining attendance and general neglect. If
period of Indonesian rule. Interestingly, one of the latest projects is the
Taman Mini was the New Order's imagined official version of an
development of a Chinese Museum (Taman Budaya Tionghoa Indonesia),
ahistorical and timeless Indonesia, fostering nation building and
to document the cultural heritage of the Chinese diaspora, highlighting
nationalism by displaying a limited cultural inventory, how is the park 4
experienced by its visitors in the present day? The park is still promoted II their lasting contribution to an ever-developing nation.
through school textbooks as the place to learn about all of Indonesia and to
master the archipelago's cultural diversity. Today, Taman Mini is one of Kijiji cha Makumbusho
Jakarta's most popular recreational spots, crowded on weekends with
families and groups of teenagers from the capital's growing middle class. Kijiji cha Makumbusho (Village Museum) is situated in the northwestern
The park still receives around four million visitors a year, the majority of outskirts of Tanzania's economic capital, Dares Salaam. The idea for this
which are domestic. Despite attempts to market the park internationally, open-air park dates back to the colonial era, when Tanganyika was part of
overseas visitors have declined sharply. the British Empire. 5 Shortly before independence in 1961, the then Curator
Bruner (2005, 211-230) looks at alternative ways of interpre1ting of Ethnography at the National Museum, a certain Mr. Wylie, envisioned
Taman Mini, at how ethnic groups operating within an official state- the creation of an open-air museum to reflect the rich and diverse
sponsored site impose their own meanings and social practices, appropriate traditions of architecture. As a child of his time, he realised that "the
the place, and undermine the official interpretation of the site. He puts increasing popularity of modern housing spelled doom for traditional
forward that the display and activities within the pavilions are sites of local styles and techniques, of which he hoped to preserve selected examples for
production, instances of human agency and creativity within the limits of both display and research purposes, including in each sample relevant
how it is possible to express ethnicity in the Indonesian state publicly. An household paraphernalia." (Masao 1993, 57). Mr. Wylie also planned for
indicative study conducted in 2005, suggests there is a clear mismatch traditional handicraft activities, to breathe life into such a heritage-themed
between what is desired and expected by contemporary visitors and what environment. It took time to convince the postcolonial Museum Board of
were the original intentions of the founders of the park (Wulandari 2005). the value of the proposal, but in 1965 some money was set aside to buy a
The main motivation to visit is recreational although two thirds of the modest plot of land (two hectares) and create the park (which, certainly
visitors expect to learn something about Indonesian art and culture during when compared to the Indonesian example, looks more like a tiny hamlet
the course of their visit. Like elsewhere in the world, young Indonesians than a village). Like other national heritage parks, it wants to be a place, as
are actually more interested in modern technology and fashionable the website indicates, "Where you can see all Tanzania in one day."
products than outdated local traditions. Rather than being worried about (Village Museum).
the unity of their country, they prefer to dream about the world "out Similar to the core section of Taman Mini, but much smaller in scale,
there", a theme that is central in Dunia Fantasi (Fantasy World), Jakarta's the centrepiece of the Village Museum is a collection of authentically
other major attraction park, with imagjneered sections named Europe, constructed dwellings, meant to show "traditional" life in various parts of
America and Africa. 3 Taman Mini versus Dunia Fantasi, socialistic Tanzania. Thirteen units were built, representing the major varieties of
nationalism versus capitalistic internationalism (Jones and Shaw 2006). vernacular architecture of mainland Tanzania (a modern, urban unit was
While the nation-building project seems more and more difficult to added later for the sake of representativeness). Like in the Indonesian case,
realise, the link between Taman Mini and tourism is becoming more there is an assumed equivalence between peoples and places, although in
pronounced. During the New Order era, inhabitants of the provinces were Tanzania the selection happened not along administrative regions but
 lmagineering Cultural Heritage for Local-to-Global Audiences 57
56 Chapter Two

has a working relationship with Nyumba ya Sanaa (House of Art)-an

ethnic groups. The idea is one of a linear relation between ethnicity and
arts-and-crafts workshop catering to tourists in the centre of Dar es
architectural style: "Tanzania has more than 123 tribes, each of which
Salaam)-in terms of basic sharing of information, database, tourist traffic
builds its own type of house." (Mbughuni 1974, 35).
and so on. As in Taman Mini, the Village Museum often hosts traditional
music, especially ngoma (drumming), and dance performances. Some of
the country's most famous wood-workers, coming from the Makonde and
Zaramo ethnic groups, have worked under the museum's patronage and
displayed their wares on its premises. Occasionally, there have been
special festivals centred on live presentations of one particular ethnic
group (e.g. the Ethnic Days Festival). During these festivities, there are not
only performances, but visitors can also enjoy traditional cuisine. In an
attempt to promote Tanzanian cultures and traditions, over twenty ethnic
groups presented their cultures at the Village Museum.
The absence of people around the houses is striking and gives the park
a rather desolate and very artificial feel. In fact, it was always the explicit
aim not to exhibit exotic ethnicities. This goes back to President Nyerere,
who was of the opinion that "human beings could not be preserved like
animals in a zoo" (quoted in Schneider 2006, 114). At the same time, the
first period of independent Tanzania in the 1960s was marked by "a
general move to banish and segregate from lived experience 'traditions'
that did not fit into an image of modernity" and move them to museums,
places "where things rest outside the current of time and life" (Schneider
2006, 114). In the Village Museum one finds, physically taken out of
Fig. 2-2: Kijiji cha Makumbusho (Village Museum)
everyday life, traditional housing designs, which the Tanzanian state was
actively combating as outdated and to be overcome, not least through its
The park is expected to represent the various ethnic groups found grand project of villagisation (cf. Scott 1998). As Schneider points out,
within Tanzania. However, due to shortage of funding and space, only the "the 'museumisation' of traditions, physically and rhetorically, was an
following peoples are represented: Zaramo, Rundi, Chagga, Maasai, Haya, exercise in boundary creation-and a statement that such traditions had no
Hehe, Fipa, Nyakyusa, Nyamwezi, Gogo and Ngoni. Each group other place in modern life." (2006, 114).
represented has a house typical of those found in the home area. Each of Having to preserve and maintain vernacular architecture with extremely
these dwellings is equipped with almost all the typical items and utensils scarce resources has led to many financial and administrative challenges.
normally used by the respective people, but the park is devoid of those (Masao 1993). Lack of money and well-trained staff pose a big problem
same people. The museum offices, which form part of the entrance to the for the general management of the Village Museum. Moreover, major and
main compound, were constructed using modern architectural designs. extensive repairs had to be undertaken on the house units, the climate of
Since its inception, the Village Museum has been state-funded and the Dar es Salaam requiring a departure from original building materials and,
Tanzania Tourist Corporation (now Tanzania Tourist Board) greatly aided in some cases, total reconstruction. As concerns interpretation, signposting
in its establishment. It is managed as an extension of the Department of at, and pathways among, the different house displays have been
Ethnography of the National Museum, a parastatal organisation under the completely redone. Much of this was realised with the help of the Swedish
Antiquities Department. As such, the Village Museum helps providing African Museum Program, a network joining museums in Sweden and in
information to communities, visitors, scholars and schoolchildren about African countries. In 1996, the program held a Conference on African
cultural and natural heritage; conducting research; conserving and preserving Open Air Museums in the Village Museum, and it twinned the latter with
the museum collection; and maintaining public museum services. The park
 Imagineering Cultural Heritage for Local-to-Global Audiences 59
58 Chapter Two

entrepreneurs have seized the opportunity to commoditise the nostalgic

the Skansen Open-Air Museum in Stockholm. 6 Such twinning programmes potential of daily rural life. The imagineering, i.e. the production of
reinforce the idea that the construction of national heritage parks follows visions, of images and of representations of the villages and their
globally diffused patterns.
Inhabitants, was largely initialised by external actors. The focus on the
Nowadays, the Village Museum attracts very few visitors. There are
power of imaginaries in the new economy is also linked to another field,
the occasional visits by expatriate families living in Tanzania or
that of storytelling (LOfgren 2003). Not simply showcasing national or
backpackers who landed in Dar and are waiting to travel elsewhere.
ethnic heritage, but being able to narrate it has become an important asset
International volunteers visit Makumbusho as part of their cultural (Salazar 2010a). In what follows, I describe how these general trends took
immersion package. The park administration is convinced that taking
shape in Indonesia and Tanzania.
Tanzanian people in the Village Museum. back to their histories enables
them to see what was good or useful in their (imagined) past and which is
worth incorporating in contemporary life and living (Mwenesi 1998). Desa Wisata
However, there is only a very rudimentary culture of visiting museums
''By Desa Wisata (Tourism Village) we mean a village which offers whole
among the Tanzanian public (and, honestly, most cannot afford to do so).
atmosphere of village seen from its socio cultural life, customs, which is
The decision by the managers to allow the use of their premises for potential to be developed into tourism components, such as: attraction,
traditional performances such as initiation ceremonies and wedding accommodation, food and beverages, and other tourist needs. The
dances, and for organising events to promote indigenous cuisine and development of a tourism village does not mean to alter what already exist,
traditional dances, seems to be a step in the right direction. Among locals, but more of calling forth its potentials which already exist in the village
Makumbusho is particularly popular in the evenings as a place where they and cannot be separated from the village itself. In general a village one
can have their nyama choma (roasted meat) and beer while enjoying some which can be developed into tourism village is a village which has already
life music, often Congolese musicians playing Souk music. ' good conditions in economy, social cultural, physical natural surroundings,
non-urban, and possess uniqueness in tradition." (Suherman 2001 , 105).

From display to experience, from village museums The economic crisis of 1997 and the fall of Suharto in 1998 radically
to tourism village changed Indonesia in many aspects. After more than three decades under a
centralised (and autocratic) national government, the country embarked on
While, to a certain extent, both Taman Mini and the Village Museum a democratisation process that quickly gave rise to regional demands for
still fulfil their role in nation-building, through time this has become less decentralisation of power. In order to finance their new bureaucratic
of an urgent preoccupation of the respective governments. What is clear is duties, local administrations needed money. Not surprisingly, many turned
that neither of the two national heritage parks ever brought in the expected to tourism as an easy way to obtain the required funds. Although some of
foreign tourist dollars. Given the precarious economic situation in both the desa wisata (tourism village) programmes were originally launched by
Indonesia and Tanzania, other strategies were developed to reach this the central government (which saw them as fundamental tools of national
second goal. This happened in a rapidly changing national, regional and development: Pariwisata Inti Rakyat or Tourism for the People), local
global context. In the 1990s, helped by the end of the Cold War, the world authorities were quick to appropriate the initiative. In central Java, for
witnessed the rapid rise of the so-called "experience economy" (Pine and example, many tourism villages were launched around the same time in
Gilmore 1999). Imaginaries became a key vehicle in what is now called which the policies of regional autonomy became effective. Various
experience tourism. Instead of promoting places to see-sightseeing- villages jumped on the wagon, seeing the concept of a tourism village as
tourism shareholders across the globe started developing experiential an alternative to big-scale tourism developments over which they had
packages, marketed in multi-sensorial languages. Museums and heritage virtually no control and from which they benefited little.
parks were seen as old-fashioned. Instead, otherwise lived spaces were There is certainly a growing market for village tourism, especially
readied for easy tourism consumption. As developing nations such as among international tourists and those Indonesians and expatriates living
Indonesia and Tanzania are going through a process of democratisation in big urban centres. Tourism villages invite visitors to see and experience
and the central governments have much less grip than before, shrewd
 lmagineering Cultural Heritage for Local-to-Global Audiences 61
60 Chapter Two

night. During the day, the guests could relax around the swimming pool,
the daily life of the villagers: the cycle of a rice field, the visit to home-
enjoy the local food, visit the nearby school for dancing and gamelan
industries who produce local food and medicine, and craftsmen who make
,erformances, pass by the craft workshop and buy souvenirs at the gallery.
souvenirs. By rethinking what counts as cultural heritage to include the
everyday, the alternative, the intangible and that which has not yet been
ro guarantee the "authentic" view, the owner bought the rice paddies
1urrounding his houses. While many villagers benefited from the
memorialised in guidebooks and official histories, another kind of
businessman's presence by producing crafts (at one point, his workshop
Indonesian experience becomes available to the visitor. Different villages
employed 125 people), it is unclear what they gained from the tourism
have different grades of tourism involvement, depending largely on
activities. Instead of community-based tourism, this is more an example of
physical and non-physical characteristics of the respective villages and
how a community is being used for tourism. Word-of-mouth led to a rapid
their proximity to other tourism attractions. Some offer a home-stay
Increase in visitors and, after a couple of years, the foreigner finally
experience, others are only places to stop over. A successful strategy
decided to make his model house private again, hereby virtually stopping
seems to be to focus on the domestic market first. Below, I briefly discuss
ull tourism development.
some of the old and new ways in which various shareholders have tried to
Tanjung in Sleman is often mentioned by the Indonesian authorities as
implement the concept of a tourism village in central Java.
"best practice" tourism village (cf. Ardika 2006). Like its neighbours,
Tanjung was a poor farming village, rice cultivation being the major
source of income. National government officials introduced the idea of
village tourism to local authorities and villagers in 1999 and, in 2001 , the
villagers officially declared their village as desa wisata. In 2003,
representatives of the village signed a Village Tourism Charter and formed
un official committee to oversee tourism development. The principal target
market is (school) groups from larger cities (cf. Janarto 2006). Tanjung
offers almost 25 programmes to learn cultural activities such as dancing,
making traditional textiles, knowing more about Javanese architecture, or
learning how to cultivate rice. These programmes are not only recreational
in nature but also give knowledge and the experience of new skills.
Importantly, youngsters are very proud of their village heritage and the
rate of urban flight has dropped tremendously. They are usually the ones
guiding visitors around and narrating the stories of the village (often
without much training to do so). Interestingly, the present village life is
represented as time-frozen and pre-modern.
Fig. 3-3: Desa Wisata (Tourism Villages) A local NGO selected Candirejo in Magelang, nearby the heavily
visited monument of Borobudur, as one of ten villages to develop so-
On World Tourism Day in 1999, the then Minister of Tourism, Arts called community-based tourism. The village was chosen for its original
and Culture, Marzuki Usman, inaugurated Tembi as model desa wisata architecture and traditional daily life, beautiful rural scene and natural
(The Jakarta Post 1999). Over the years, this project received many resources, all heritage deemed worthy to be preserved. Financially supported
national and international awards for sustainable tourism. The man behind by the Japan International Cooperation Agency and UNDP, and expertise
tourism development in Tembi was an Australian entrepreneur who had provided by UNESCO, Candirejo village was prepared to receive
chosen the picturesque village as the base of his lucrative export business international tourists. This included the development of micro enterprises,
of high-end handcrafted products (James 2003). His renovation of some of such as the rental of bicycles and horse carts, and local accommodation
the village houses in Dutch colonial style had fascinated many of his structures. The whole process involved multiple workshops, panel
visiting expatriate friends from Bali or Jakarta and this is how the idea discussions, and community group meetings. In 2003, Candirejo was
developed to let (foreign) visitors stay overnight for 200/300 USD per
62 Chapter Two lmagineering Cultural Heritage for Local-to-Global Audiences 63

officially inaugurated as desa wisata by I Gde Ardika, the then Minister of published widely about the success of CTP, the project was nominated for
Tourism and Culture. Given its proximity to a World Heritage Site, various international awards. In 2002, the International Year of
Candirejo has attracted far more international tourists than domestic Ecotourism, CTP was heralded as Tanzania's good practice example of
visitors. It is noteworthy that the Minister chose Sambi, another village sustainable development by the World Tourism Organisation (2002, 237-
selected by the same NGO, to announce the start of Indonesia Heritage 240). The modules are also widely praised in guidebooks such as the
Year in 2003 (Wahyuni 2003). Here, too, the representational emphasis is Lonely Planet or the Rough Guide. Due to its perceived economic and
more on the past than on the present or the future. Although the intentions institutional sustainability (and because it had been conceived as a five-
are different, the work of cultural preservationists and the interests of year project from the very start), SNV withdrew from the project in 2001.
government and private entrepreneurs clearly overlap in the development Since then, there has been a declining cooperation between the different
of village tourism. · communities involved (van der Duim, Peters, and Wearing 2005). Each
village seems to be only dealing with its own activities, and not everybody
in the participating communities is happy with the presence of nosy
Cultural Tourism Programme tourists. In some places, the revenues are not distributed properly and there
"Cultural tourism is a people tourism that enables tourists to experience are escalating conflicts over land and natural resources.
authentic cultures combining nature, scenery, folklore, ceremonies, dances, As of 2009, CTP has 26 participating communities and many villages
rituals, tales, art, handicrafts and hospitality-giving a unique insight into are waiting to join. However, the various modules offer very similar
the way of life of the people while offering a complementary product to packages and, like in Indonesia, accessibility is a major factor determining
wildlife and beach based tourism." (Tanzania Tourist Board 2007, 2). success; villages nearby Arusha (Tanzania's "safari capital") or on the
access roads to protected areas are far more popular than more remote
The Cultural Tourism Programme (CTP) was launched in 1995 by the ones. Because CTP as a whole badly needed professional management, the
Dutch aid agency Stichting Nederlandse Vrijwilligers (SNV). A pilot TTB assigned a full-time CTP coordinator to develop guidelines and
project near the Kenyan border showed the possibilities for local people to quality standards and to address the many marketing problems that have
benefit from tourism. In co-operation with projects already started by arisen. In order not to lose face, SNV became involved again, this time by
German (GTZ) and Finnish (Finnida) aid agencies, CTP was set up as a providing two tourism consultants. The organisation recognised that, since
network of local communities, mainly Maasai in northern Tanzania, most villagers themselves have not travelled extensively, it is not possible
operating independently from each other and offering individually for them to put the beauty or novelty of their environments into a wider
developed tour packages. These include campsites, home-stays, traditional tourism context.
food and beverages, trained guides, and local tours involving natural Local tour guides are very important in CTP. They are often the only
heritage (forests, waterfalls, and caves) and cultural attractions (historical people in the villages with whom tourists spend more time than the
sites and visits to healers, story tellers, artisans, and cooking mamas). The average interaction with locals. Guiding therefore constitutes a strategic
name CTP refers to the involvement of local people in organizing the tours factor in the representation of a community, and in influencing the quality
and in guiding tourists through their attractions while showing them their of the tourist experience, the length of stay, and the resulting economic
aspects of their daily life, culture and history. SNV financed the various benefits for the community (Salazar 2010a). Ideally, CTP tour guides are
CTP modules, controlled their expenditures, and organised some minimal villagers with wide knowledge about the local natural and cultural
training for local tour guides. The Tanzania Tourist Board (TTB), on the heritage. Some communities, understanding the importance of guiding for
other hand, was responsible for promoting CTP to both local and the development of their tourism packages, invested heavily by sending
international travel agencies and tour operators (DeJong 1999). promising villagers to tour guide schools in Arusha. However, these
Helped by the fact that experiential "meet the people" tourism was youngsters soon realised that they could earn more money by becoming
becoming in vogue, CTP experienced a great boom in its first years of safari driver-guides and often did not return to the communities that had
existence. Tourists contribute to a village development fund for construction sponsored their education. The ethnographic examples below illustrate the
of schools or other development projects. The modules are visited by both
tour operators and independent low budget tourists. Because SNV
 Chapter Two lmagineering Cultural Heritage for Local-to-Global Audiences 65
64

importance of local guiding for the representation of the ethnic groups identify himself as such). His knowledge about Maasai culture is limited to
the point that tourists sometimes become aware of it. I witnessed this on
visited.
The lack of cooperation and consultation between the various CTP one of the tours I observed. One tourist was a general practitioner and very
modules has a baleful influence on the way different ethnic groups interested in knowing more about how the Maasai use local plants for
represent one another. More often than not, the Maasai, CTP's main medicinal purposes. The guide told her that the plants they (the Maasai)
"attraction" are the ones who suffer most from stereotyping and use have no real healing value but are just used because of tradition. When
misrepresentation (cf. Salazar 2009).7 During CTP tours in Tengeru, for visiting a Maasai boma (homestead), he was unable to explain how the
example, the local Meru guides clearly distinguish their ethnic group from settlement is structurally organised. After a very brief introduction, he
the Maasai by denigrating the latter and depicting them as backwards. The invited the group to "walk around and take pictures". The situation looked
Meru guides explain to foreign tourists that only the Maasai wear blankets; like a human zoo: Maasai and tourists staring at one another, without a
the Meru wear clothes. They are proud to say that the Meru are more cultural broker to facilitate communication and exchange between the two
developed compared to other "tribes" because they have adapted quicker parties. The next day, the group went on a camel safari. At the start, the
to modernity, and that the Maasai are certainly more primitive. Such tour guide introduced all the camels by name. The accompanying Maasai
comments partly have their origins in the guides' frustration that men (one per camel), on the contrary, were never mentioned, let alone
foreigners think all Tanzanians are Maasai. In the CTP of Il'kidinga, a properly introduced. Because the tourists did not understand Swahili, they
settlement of Arusha people, the village guides use the opposite strategy; never noticed that their "local" guide was not a Maasai but a Meru. Of
they capitalise on the perceived similarities with the Maasai to attract more course, they also did not know there are growing tensions between Meru
tourists. and Maasai people in the area because the land they share around Mt.
Meru is becoming overcrowded and overstocked. The Maasai visited, on
the other hand, had no clue about how they were being represented by the
Meru guide because they do not understand English.

Conclusion
"The so-called 'museum' or 'culture park' view of heritage as something
that has only to be preserved and tended, only to be kept pristine, isolated
from the alterations going on all around it, is not only utopian, it is
mischievous. In trying to freeze a living tradition in the name of
authenticity you produce the worst sorts of inauthenticity-decadence, not
purity." (Geertz 1997, 19).

Bruner notes that heritage-themed environments "are an excellent

setting for anthropological inquiry as they are sites where the ethnic
diversity of the nation or the region is represented for the visitors in a
single locality in one panoptic sweep." (2005, 211). In this chapter, I have
described how various periods have given rise to different tailor-made
types of heritage environments for domestic and international visitors in
Indonesia and Tanzania. Taman Mini and the Village Museum were built
around the 1970s to develop a feeling of national unity and nationalism in
Fig. 3-4: Cultural Tourism Programme (CTP) young postcolonial states, though they were clearly inspired by earlier
Western projects (as varied as Disneyland in the USA and Skansen in
In the Maasai CTP of Mkuru, one of the main tour guides is not a Sweden). To a certain extent, these hybrid open-air parks were an attempt
Maasai but a Meru from a neighbouring village (although he does not
 Imagineering Cultural Heritage for Local-to-Global Audiences 67
66 Chapter Two

anthropology) is moving towards mobile subjects, border crossings and

to make sense of the multi-ethnic reality with which colonialism had left vast population movements (Bruner 2005, 212). Tailor-made imagineering
these countries after independence. Selected aspects of diversity were in heritage tourism for domestic and international audiences is well worth
exhibited, without really attempting to (re)present all ethnicities. more in-depth ethnographic studying, because its practices not only create
Paradoxically, these national heritage parks visually display difference yet an image of places and peoples, the imaginative power of shrewd
promote unity. Typical house types (reconstructions) are a dominant imagineers can potentially steal people's own imaginations in and through
feature, along with ethnic costumes, aspects of indigenous arts and culture, invented experiences. The central role of imaginaries as a force of tourism
dance performances, and, in some cases, regional food. While the parks production and consumption of the past, the present and the future calls for
are recreational, they are also seriously political. They symbolise, in a an urgent return to empirical studies of widely circulating dreams and
modern way, centralised power (cf. Anderson 1991). Cultural heritage popular flights of fantasy, in the context of heritage tourism and beyond.
heterogeneity is put in its place-fixed, aligned, domesticated-and turned As global tourism continues to expand, heritage sites and performances
into recreational exhibition (Bruner 2005, 212). Aimed at a multiplicity of will be the source of historically unprecedented numbers of tourists.
audiences, such parks have been mainly successful in attracting domestic However, cultural heritage tourism is a double-edged sword. One the one
crowds.
hand, it can be a positive force to retain cultural values and to help
Since both Indonesia and Tanzania gained their independence half a mitigate threats. On the other hand, global tourism can become itself a
century ago, unity-in-diversity ideologies and practices are still in place menace to the sustainability of heritage. Those in charge of heritage
but have become much less important - people have long understood the management clearly need to pay closer attention to reconciling the needs
message. Nowadays, the logic of (neoliberal) globalisation is forcing both
of the various parties involved, each with their own interests (Porter and
the public and private sector of these developing countries to look outward
Salazar 2005). Instead of one universally accepted meaning, the
rather than inward. In this context, the tourismification of actually existing
significance of heritage-be it natural or cultural, tangible or intangible-
villages in Indonesia and Tanzania is both a consequence of the recent is characterised by pluriversality. While the (re)shaping of cultural
national decentralisation of power and a response to the increasing heritage used to be predominantly influenced by local and national actors,
international demand for experiential tourism, often based on the temporal nowadays regional and global factors need to be taken into account as
and spatial Othering of those living in rural areas (cf. Fabian 2002). In well. For cultural heritage tourism, the challenges of global (and, ever
contrast with national heritage parks, where newly formed governments more, regional) standardisation and local differentiation will take on new
went through great efforts to show the modern side of their nation, in dimensions (Salazar 2010b). While the management of heritage is usually
tourism villages quite the opposite is happening. The heritage theming of the responsibility of a particular community or custodian group, the
otherwise lived environments strategically makes use of three recurring protection, conservation, interpretation and (re )presentation of the cultural
imaginaries in tourism to developing countries: the myth of the diversity of any particular place or people are important challenges for us
unchanged, the myth of the unrestrained and the myth of the uncivilised
all ...
(Echtner and Prasad 2003). A visit to the countryside is told and sold
(often by the villagers themselves) as an exotic journey to the past,
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Notes
1
The Dutch began to colonise the archipelago in the early seventeenth century and
stayed until1949.
2
Contrast this with the highly conflictive programme of transmigration, equally
aimed at creating imagined communities of a unified nation (Hoey 2003). Tanzania
had a similar project of "villagisation" (Scott 1998).
3
This is part of Taman Impian Jaya Ancol (Ancol Dreamland), a popular resort
destination located along the capital's waterfront, which opened in 1966 and is
currently the largest integrated tourism area in Southeast Asia, boasting an
international championship golf course, world-class hotels and other recreational
facilities.
4
Indonesia is home to the world's largest population of Overseas Chinese (over
seven million).
5
From 1884 until1918, Tanganyika was under German colonial rule as part of its
East Africa Protectorate. Following Germany's defeat in the First World War, the
country was handed over to the U.K. as a mandate territory by the League of
Nations and, after 1946, a UN trust territory. Tanganyika became independent in