Transcending Diversity Through Aesthetics: Reflections on Taman Mini Indonesia Indah and Nayong Pilipino

Abstract

A side-by-side exploration of Taman Mini Indonesia Indah and Nayong Pilipino has never been undertaken before, despite claims that the latter served as inspiration to the former, despite the regional connection of Indonesia and the Philippines, and despite the parallel authoritarian regimes which initiated the parks’ construction. The primacy of culture during the New Order and New Society eras of Soeharto and Ferdinand Marcos, its concomitant crystallization into cultural policies, and subsequent materialities into institutions, specifically cultural theme parks, is the horizon this study situates itself in. As a social historical thesis, documentary research and expert interviews served as the main avenues by which data were collected. The study is organized around what makes nation-states the way they are, that is authority, territory, people, international relations, and culture, and is largely observed through Michel Foucault’s views on governmentality and Tony Bennett’s propositions on museums. The narrative commences from where the idea for the parks originated, its proponents—the First Ladies and the shadows they cast on national cultures. It then traverses the condensations of their respective nations within the chosen spaces, particularly their layout and intention. It navigates the formation of identities as they are envisioned, idealized, and prescribed. And explores the currents which aided the parks’ fruition along with links that prove how these parks cannot be seen in isolation. The journey culminates with the understanding of culture’s power when distilled and harnessed through aesthetics and its associated perils on the inherent diversity of people living in both countries.