Uploaded June 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago
How the 1955 Asian-African Conference is Taught, Understood, and Misremembered in Indonesia
Lecture at the conference "Bandung Spirits", May 24, 2025
The 1955 Asian-African Conference in Bandung is widely remembered as a milestone in Indonesia’s postcolonial diplomacy and a symbol of Global South solidarity. But how is this legacy taught and understood by young Indonesians today? This paper draws on student surveys, textbook analysis, and observations at the Museum of the Asian-African Conference to explore contemporary perceptions of the event. Findings suggest that while most students have heard of the Bandung Conference, their understanding is often superficial—rooted in textbook summaries and museum exhibitions that emphasize national pride over transnational cooperation. The internationalist vision that shaped Bandung 1955 is largely neglected, and the nationalism that tends to dominate the narrative reduces the conference to a symbol of Indonesia’s diplomatic greatness rather than a shared Afro-Asian struggle. By critically engaging with existing scholarship and memory practices, this study highlights how state-driven narratives, curricular choices, and museum exhibition shape historical consciousness. It argues for the need to revisit and reimagine Bandung’s legacy, not merely as an achievement of the past, but as a political moment that continues to inspire decolonial futures.The 1955 Asian-African Conference in Bandung is widely remembered as a milestone in Indonesia’s postcolonial diplomacy and a symbol of Global South solidarity. But how is this legacy taught and understood by young Indonesians today? This paper draws on student surveys, textbook analysis, and observations at the Museum of the Asian-African Conference to explore contemporary perceptions of the event. Findings suggest that while most students have heard of the Bandung Conference, their understanding is often superficial—rooted in textbook summaries and museum exhibitions that emphasize national pride over transnational cooperation. The internationalist vision that shaped Bandung 1955 is largely neglected, and the nationalism that tends to dominate the narrative reduces the conference to a symbol of Indonesia’s diplomatic greatness rather than a shared Afro-Asian struggle. By critically engaging with existing scholarship and memory practices, this study highlights how state-driven narratives, curricular choices, and museum exhibition shape historical consciousness. It argues for the need to revisit and reimagine Bandung’s legacy, not merely as an achievement of the past, but as a political moment that continues to inspire decolonial futures.
How the 1955 Asian-African Conference is Taught, Understood, and Misremembered in Indonesia
Lecture at the conference "Bandung Spirits", May 24, 2025
The 1955 Asian-African Conference in Bandung is widely remembered as a milestone in Indonesia’s postcolonial diplomacy and a symbol of Global South solidarity. But how is this legacy taught and understood by young Indonesians today? This paper draws on student surveys, textbook analysis, and observations at the Museum of the Asian-African Conference to explore contemporary perceptions of the event. Findings suggest that while most students have heard of the Bandung Conference, their understanding is often superficial—rooted in textbook summaries and museum exhibitions that emphasize national pride over transnational cooperation. The internationalist vision that shaped Bandung 1955 is largely neglected, and the nationalism that tends to dominate the narrative reduces the conference to a symbol of Indonesia’s diplomatic greatness rather than a shared Afro-Asian struggle. By critically engaging with existing scholarship and memory practices, this study highlights how state-driven narratives, curricular choices, and museum exhibition shape historical consciousness. It argues for the need to revisit and reimagine Bandung’s legacy, not merely as an achievement of the past, but as a political moment that continues to inspire decolonial futures.The 1955 Asian-African Conference in Bandung is widely remembered as a milestone in Indonesia’s postcolonial diplomacy and a symbol of Global South solidarity. But how is this legacy taught and understood by young Indonesians today? This paper draws on student surveys, textbook analysis, and observations at the Museum of the Asian-African Conference to explore contemporary perceptions of the event. Findings suggest that while most students have heard of the Bandung Conference, their understanding is often superficial—rooted in textbook summaries and museum exhibitions that emphasize national pride over transnational cooperation. The internationalist vision that shaped Bandung 1955 is largely neglected, and the nationalism that tends to dominate the narrative reduces the conference to a symbol of Indonesia’s diplomatic greatness rather than a shared Afro-Asian struggle. By critically engaging with existing scholarship and memory practices, this study highlights how state-driven narratives, curricular choices, and museum exhibition shape historical consciousness. It argues for the need to revisit and reimagine Bandung’s legacy, not merely as an achievement of the past, but as a political moment that continues to inspire decolonial futures.
