Cultural Mediation and Narrative Decolonization: A Phenomenographic Study of Museum Communication Strategies for Colonial Batik Collections

In the postcolonial context, museums serve as a crucial arena for negotiating colonial heritage and cultural identity through organizational communication strategies. However, research on how audiences and museum practitioners in Southeast Asia interpret colonial heritage collections qualitatively is still very limited. This research aims to explore variations in conceptions of cultural mediation and narrative decolonization in the management of colonial-era batik collections. Using a phenomenographic approach, data were collected through in-depth interviews with 6 participants, consisting of curators, museum educators, and supported by field observation and document analysis. Data analysis identified four main categories of description in the outcome space: (1) Batik as a static colonial artifact; (2) Hybrid cultural products resulting from cross-cultural contact; (3) Pedagogical instruments for cultural literacy; and (4) Decolonial reinterpretation as an effort to reconstruct the postcolonial narrative. The findings suggest a hierarchical transition from object-centered understanding to a critical awareness centered on local agency. This study makes a theoretical contribution to the field of museum communication by introducing the concept of “critical hybridity” as an epistemic decolonization strategy. In practical terms, this study recommends a participatory cultural mediation model that integrates counter-narratives into the museum’s permanent infrastructure to create a more inclusive and transparent representation of history.