Museums of the West are preservers of many objects representing the notional relationships of past cultures to their environment.   But many cultures keep objects of special value and have created complex structures or spaces for the objects’ safekeeping as well as technologies for their curation and preservation. For example a class of such objects in Indonesia known as  pusaka includes at least three categories: something inherited from a deceased person (analogous to the English word inheritance;  something that comes down from one’s ancestors (analogous to heirloom); an inheritance of special value to a community that cannot be disposed of without specific common descent (analogous to heritage in the sense of something possessed as a result of one’s natural situation or birth). Thus, pusaka is a concept of cultural heritage expressed in both tangible and intangible forms.

The concept has also worked to protect and preserve valuable cultural property and transmit cultural knowledge and traditions through the generations. Consequently, pusaka has also functioned as a means of safeguarding cultural heritage. It is an allinclusive, holistic approach to heritage preservation that is integrated into larger social structures and ongoing social practices.

Tangible forms of pusaka include things like textiles, jewelry, ornaments, weapons, ceramics, beads, dance regalia, land, carved ancestor figures, and houses. Intangible cultural expressions such as songs, dance dramas, stories, or names can also be considered pusaka. Virtually anything can become pusaka, although not everything that is inherited is pusaka, nor are objects created to be pusaka. An object or entity becomes pusaka in the course of its social life. As one Indonesian writer puts it, pusaka are social constructs, and it is the meaning a society gives these objects, not anything innate in the objects themselves, that makes them pusaka.

So, like all other cultural heritage, the meanings and values assigned to particular pusaka are socially and culturally constructed and contingent on specific contexts and circumstances. Because pusaka is a social construct, it is more appropriate to think of it in terms of social relationships because beautiful objects produced also encompasses concepts of heritage preservation, or conceptual frameworks that support the transmission of culture through time, which is how I define cultural heritage preservation.

Western museology is rooted in the assumption that the museum idea and museological behaviour are distinctly Western and modern cultural phenomena. But many cultures keep objects of special value and have created complex structures or spaces for the objects’ safekeeping as well as technologies for their curation and preservation. In many respects, these pusaka emphasize, express, or define relationships within a society.

Different cultural groups throughout Indonesia have their own kinds of pusaka and ways of assigning value and meaning to it. Hence, they may have their own, particular notions of what constitutes their heritage and approaches to its preservation. They may also have their own protocol regarding who is responsible for looking after the pusaka, that is, its curators. In one group it may be a village headman, in another a religious associate, and in yet another, a member of a royal court. Curatorial work in this context is a social practice that is deeply embedded in a larger social structure that defines relationships among people and their particular relationships to objects.

The V&A does not specialise in African art. When the Museum was established in the 19th century, many people viewed African art and design as 'ethnography' rather than 'art'. So because the V&A was an art museum, its collecting policy did not specifically include African objects, though some were acquired as examples of skills or techniques.

More recently the collection has expanded to include work by black artists from Africa and the rest of the world. Today the V&A has over 3000 objects of relevance to black heritage, art and culture, including  the work of black contemporary artists and representations of black people in European art.

The Prints and Drawings Study Room has Resource Boxes with images and information on a variety of subjects. The Resource Box on Cultural Identity explores the work of black, Asian and Middle Eastern photographers and of white photographers who have worked in cultures other than their own. The study room also has a huge collection of prints, paintings, drawings and photographs by contemporary black artists.

Based on these resources, in 2007 the museum celebrated the black visual and performing arts in the UK through a range of exhibitions, activities and events.

2007 marked the bi-centenary of the parliamentary abolition of the slave trade. It was a landmark year, not just in British history but in human history, signalling the end of 400 years of slavery. To commemorate this the V&A is running a number of activities throughout the year. Find out more about Uncomfortable Truths: The Shadow of Slave Trading on Art & Design.

Black British Style in the Contemporary space explored fashion and styling across all aspects of black life and culture over the past 50 years. This Black British Style video (6mins 28secs) captures the opinions of visitors to the exhibition about how black culture has influenced their style and image. Assisted by a National Touring Grant from Arts Council England, the exhibition toured to five venues across the UK, between June 2005 and December 2006. The Black British Style Exhibition Tour  is a record of the projects held to document the fashion, style and identity of visitors in each local area.

Carnival for All commemorated the 40th anniversary of the Notting Hill Carnival. A major display of specially commissioned costumes and an exhibition of photographs documented four decades of this famous event. This Carnival Family Day video (3mins 47secs)  captures some of the memories of carnivalites who attended the Carnival Family Day event and includes a parade of costume highlights from the 2004 Notting Hill Carnival.

A series of 11 critical debates entitled Beyond Identity: New Directions in Visual Art and Culture saw eminent artists discussing the impact of Empire and colonialism - on both coloniser and colonised, within and on other societies and cultures around the world - and how this impact has influenced their work.

These exhibitions and events were supported by a fantastic programme of educational and interactive activities, from a graffiti T-shirt printing workshop and a fashion workshop linking the V&A's textiles collection with carnival costume design to reminiscence programmes and a tea-dance in the opulent Gamble Room.

The premiere programme, "A Journey through Ancient Miletus", propels visitors on a voyage of discovery to the city of Miletus as it was two thousand years ago; the temple of Apollo Delphinius, the Council House, the Hellenistic Gymnasium, the Ionic Stoa and the North Agora are some of the public buildings that can be experienced.

Participants can "walk" through or fly over the accurate three-dimensional reconstruction, "dive" into the harbor of ancient Miletus, explore the city as it unfolds through time, and experience the life of its architectural glory, its people and their customs, habits, and way of life. With the use of the navigational device, children are free to choose their own path in visiting important public buildings. They can examine the architectural details and landscape from many different perspectives, practice their orientation skills and get to understand the sense of scale, proportion, and space used by their ancestors. If they choose to fly close up to the columns, the architectural elements of the 3-D models fade into layers of higher detail, enabling the participants to experience an accurate reconstruction. Our next step in enhancing the educational experience is to add construction ability, where the children can switch between elements and compare the evolution of style through the evolution of time in the city.