Visions and revisions: Toraja culture and the tourist gaze

Ethnic tourism, a consummate form of “collection,” presupposes processes of ob‐jectification that extend to “culture” itself. Such processes are not simply imposed by the demands of the international tourism industry; actors include indigenous peoples who are both “tourist objects” and reflective critics, whose cultural visions (and revisions) are shaped in part by a distinctive “tourist gaze” and in part by a dialogue with the state. These processes are explored in the Toraja highlands of Sulawesi, Indonesia, where indigenous media (houses, effigies, and ceremonies) are being recomposed, using a range of new media, as obyek turis. [tourism, representation, public culture, art, ritual, Indonesia]