Abstract:
Displays
of
national
identity
in
the
context
of
the
social
history
exhibition
focus
on
the
universal
as
a
method
of
connecting
a
diverse
group
of
people.
The
issue
with
this
approach
for
Asian
New
Zealanders
is
the
vexed
and
complex
process
of
identity
making
and
their
contested
representational
history.
Being
Asian
in
New
Zealand
is
inevitably
tied
to
an
offshore
repository
of
signs
and
signifiers
whilst
a
local
presence
alludes
to
a
peripheral
experience.
This
dissertation
considers
the
museum
not
as
a
mirror
but
as
a
manifesto
and
privileges
the
encounter
between
the
exhibition
and
the
exhibited
subject.
Considering
recent
identity
theories
such
as
hybridity
and
cosmopolitanism,
this
dissertation
provides
fresh
perspectives
to
explore
processes
of
representation
within
the
museum.
The
two
perspectives
examined
are
representation
within
the
museum
exhibition
Passports
at
Te
Papa
Tongarewa
and
processes
of
identity
making
through
narrative
biographies
of
'later'
generations
of
Asian
New
Zealanders.
Examining
these
two
sides
of
representation
is
a
means
to
evaluate
the
efficacy
of
representation
within
the
civic
space
of
the
museum.
Narrative
interviews
were
conducted
using
a
longitudinal
approach.
Two
separate
interviews,
with
the
first
in
the
museum
setting,
allowed
for
an
exploration
of
how
representation
and
meaning
precedes
and
succeeds
the
confrontation
with
an
exhibition.
The
empirical
material
reveals
that
for
the
participants
in
this
study
the
focus
is
no
longer
on
migration
and
being
from
'somewhere
else'
but
rather
navigating
and
negotiating
multiple
identities
as
a
result
of
circumstances
located
in
this
time
and
place.
The
term
'Asian'
in
New
Zealand
holds
its
own
meaning
beyond
geographic
markers
and
in
this
research
accounts
more
for
the
idea
of
a
type
of
communal
experience
as
opposed
to
traditions
bound
by
ethnic
specificity.
This
research
aims
to
fill
a
dearth
in
empirical
testing
of
identity
theory
as
well
as
reveal
an
understanding
of
the
potential
of
the
person
as
a
signifier.
Viewing
the
exhibition
as
an
influence
on
identity
making
allows
for
a
realisation
of
how
feelings
of
belonging
are
shaped
within
the
museum's
walls,
and
how
the
exhibition
holds
influence
going
beyond
this
site
of
encounter.
