In her research Yulia Nurliani Lukito analyses modernity and the construction of culture by the
authorities using the images of Indonesian vernacular architecture presented at three different
sites and times. She argues that modernity is not solely constructed by the authorities rather
it is an ongoing process modified by visitors of exhibitions. Pasar Gambir was a laboratory of
modernity for the colony and an important stage in modernizing and negotiating cultural and
social conditions in the colony. The Dutch Pavilion at the 1931 colonial exhibition became a
moment when the Indies heritages played a role in marking colonial territory. Modern
ethnographic park of Taman Mini gives a way to the making of an official 'authentic' culture
and suppresses the previous Dutch construction of the Indies culture.
