The role of visual communication design to increase public literacy on the history of Spice Route in supporting Indonesia’s proposal toward UNESCO’s World Cultural Heritage

Abstract

Previous studies show that the process of reproduction of nationalism through the reconstruction of national history and national identity is no longer always the elite’s initiation. Democratization and globalization also provide space for people to re-interpret the ideal picture of Indonesia. The learning tradition of contemporary society in general is an interesting fundamental issue. Global connectivity and the advancement of information technology have also created new habits in acquiring knowledge. As a result, contemporary society is increasingly ignorant of history and alienated from its cultural roots. This research intends to examine the extent to which visual communication design can increase public literacy, especially about the state efforts in reconstructing national history and Indonesian identity through the cultural-historical narrative of Spice Route. In line with President Joko Widodo’s vision to position Indonesia as the global maritime fulcrum in 2045, the legacy of the spice trade route, which is also an intercultural exchange route, will be proposed by the government of Indonesia as a World Cultural Heritage to UNESCO. The methods used in this qualitative study are auto-ethnography, participant-observation, in-depth interviews, and visual communication design methods through analysis of form-content-context, both descriptive and reflective. Through the findings, visual communication design has great potentials in increasing public knowledge on Spice Route narrative, especially in encouraging curiosity and willingness to learn more about Indonesian history and cultures.