This project strives to examine if and how Overseas Chinese history museums in Southeast Asia offer alternative representations of the past to those found in the People’s Republic of China (PRC). By juxtaposing the nationalist representations embedded in the PRC’s memorialization of Chinese diaspora and those shown in museums in Southeast Asia, this project will analyse the diversity of discourses on the Chinese past, retrieve the agency of different communities funding the museums, and problematize the application of decolonial theories in museums based outside the Western episteme. How do Chinese communities outside the PRC represent their own history? Are they influenced by the PRC’s increasingly Sinocentric narrative, or they propose a more nuanced vision of China’s past? Do Overseas Chinese history museums in Southeast Asia provide alternative viewpoints on the global history of colonialism and of China’s role in it? How much are they influenced by the national agencies of the country they live in? How do overseas Chinese communities see and describe their role in the colonial world? What does it mean to decolonize historical narratives in museums in China and in Southeast Asia? In answering these questions, this project aims at fulfilling four interconnected purposes:

1) To map Chinese history museums/Chinese history in museums in Southeast Asia.
2) To understand how different agencies shape the content and narratives in these museums.
3) To problematize our understanding of decolonial theories and practices in museums based
outside the Western episteme.
4) To create connections between Southeast Asian and European museum curators and academics.

2024/53/B/HS3/01498