Museums and the Fashioning of National History in Postcolonial Pakistan

Abstract

This article uses the deliberations of the Museums Association of Pakistan to demonstrate the collaborative and multidisciplinary nature of national history-writing that took place in the wake of Pakistan’s independence from British colonial rule. It repositions museums as an important stage on which new national narratives—and, by extension, new South Asian histories—were generated, rather than their being mere showcases for histories scripted elsewhere or being dismissed as colonial relics. It also draws attention to the individuals and the networks that shaped these histories, widening the net to include more than elite politicians and grand narratives.