From Archives to Public Memory: Collaborative Construction of Local History in Galeri Bumi Parawira, Indonesia

Purpose: This research examines the transformation of static historical archives into dynamic public collective memory through collaborative curatorial and artistic practices at Galeri Bumi Parawira in Bogor, Indonesia. It explores how government agencies, archivists, librarians, local history communities, and artists negotiate authority to co-construct local historical knowledge.Method/approach: Utilizing a qualitative case study design, the research applies reflexive thematic analysis to data collected from institutional documents, semi-structured interviews, and participant observations across multi-stakeholder groups, including government agencies, librarians, archivists, local history communities, and artists.Results: The findings demonstrate that public memory within the gallery is not a passive reproduction of raw administrative records, but an interpretive narrative of local leadership history. This narrative is co-constructed through multi-stakeholder negotiations, field and historical validation, visual artistic representations, and active community participation.Conclusions/findings: The exhibition functions beyond a static archival repository, serving as a living center for public knowledge creation. These results validate the paradigm of “doing history with the public” and reinforce the conceptualization of heritage as an ongoing, dynamic social process.