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REVIEW

ASEAN Storyteller: Spiritual Beliefs, Arts, and Life
2nd Permanent Exhibition Opened at ACH

 

In celebration of its fourth anniversary, the ASEAN Culture House (ACH) recently made a full reorganization of its permanent exhibition. Whereas the initial exhibition, ASEAN Ways of Life: Its Diversity and Unity, focused on the characteristics that make each ASEAN country unique, the new exhibition, ASEAN Storyteller: Spiritual Beliefs, Arts, and Life, puts a spotlight on ASEAN as “One Community” through the three titular themes.

The feature of this exhibition that first catches the eye is the panoramic view screen in the center of the Permanent Exhibition Gallery, which displays the cultural heritages and relics of ASEAN against a background of the region’s beautiful natural environment. Once they get past the screen, visitors will see a kiosk with an ASEAN “delegation,” whose members are dressed in the traditional attire of the different ASEAN countries. The animated characters make a greeting in their respective countries’ language and provide basic information on their countries. After this general introduction to ASEAN, visitors are taken on a tour of the three large central display cases and the exhibits along the walls on “Spiritual Beliefs,” “Arts,” and “Life.”

Spiritual Beliefs, which delves into ASEAN’s religions, is made up of artworks that are related to the many religions (Islam, Buddhism, Catholicism, Hinduism, and indigenous religions) that have shaped the psyche of the ASEAN people over their long histories. The second section, Arts, features paintings, sculptures, dolls, masks, and traditional instruments of ASEAN. The last section, Life, offers a glimpse of everyday life in each ASEAN country through hand-crafted items related to clothing, food, and housing.

The TV monitors and photographs positioned throughout the gallery give visitors a much more concrete understanding of the exhibited objects by showing how they are actually used. One noteworthy feature of the permanent exhibition is the “ASEAN Story Bookcase,” which allows visitors to make their own story about ASEAN by collecting images of exhibits that interest them by saving them on their smartphones. Through the ACH’s updated permanent exhibition, which incorporates cutting-edge technologies such as large screen media map videos, a touchscreen kiosk, and mobile technologies, visitors are encouraged to experience ASEAN’s many attractions in new ways.