Salvaging a wreck: The afterlife of the Belitung shipwreck

Using the Belitung shipwreck as a case study, this thesis examines the question of what constitutes protection and preservation of underwater cultural heritage in a museum context, and advocates a re-appraisal of these concepts. My original contribution to knowledge is the articulation and interrogation of the post-discovery afterlife of the Belitung shipwreck, including the circumstances of its discovery, salvage and exhibition. This approach is informed by the idea that objects accumulate histories, meaning and significance through the events and people they encounter. As this thesis demonstrates, objects recovered from the Belitung cannot be divorced from the problematic means by which they were recovered, particularly the commercial nature of the salvage and the limited application of established archaeological principles. These entanglements have indelibly informed the biography of the objects in question, becoming part of what I describe as the Belitung’s afterlife.
Within this context, this thesis argues that a judicious and carefully executed decision by a museum to exhibit commercially salvaged underwater cultural heritage can contribute to the protection and preservation of this heritage. It is not the display of problematic underwater cultural heritage per se that legitimises the exploitation of underwater cultural heritage, but the failure to encourage critical reflection about the ethical issues associated with the recovery and display of objects from submerged sites. An understanding of the entangled afterlives of these objects is, I propose, central to this critical reflection.
The afterlives of the Belitung shipwreck date to 1998, when local fishermen revealed a significant discovery in Indonesian waters: a 9th century Arabian-style vessel carrying a commercial quantity of Tang dynasty ceramics as well as rare items of imperial quality. The discovery yielded new insights into the scope and sophistication of early maritime trade between the Middle East, Southeast Asia and China. At the time of the wreck’s discovery, Indonesia permitted the commercial salvage and sale of shipwrecks in its waters, demonstrating an approach to heritage that imbricates public and private spheres, and prioritises economic, rather than historical or archaeological, value. Approximately 60,000 objects were recovered over two short salvage seasons.
Singapore purchased the largely-intact assemblage with the intention of using it as the basis for both a new public maritime museum and an international, travelling exhibition. Also of interest was the potential for the cargo to become a research and teaching resource. While the new public maritime museum did not eventuate, the international travelling exhibition did: Shipwrecked: Tang Treasures and Monsoon Winds opened at Singapore’s ArtScience Museum in 2011. But Singapore’s ambitious plans to display Shipwrecked around the world were thwarted when the international community expressed concerns about the ethics of exhibiting commercially salvaged underwater cultural heritage. The controversy culminated in the withdrawal of support by the Smithsonian Institution, Singapore’s curatorial partner in America. Despite the controversy, the interruption was only temporary and the collection has gained momentum as a travelling exhibition.
This thesis argues that museums must seek to confidently occupy space within debates about the exploitation, ownership and interpretation of contested heritage, including underwater cultural heritage. In an increasingly complex and connected world, museums have both the potential and the responsibility to be places where difficult discussions can occur. As the case of the Belitung demonstrates, museums can play a critical role in addressing shortcomings in the salvage process—not by obscuring them, but by drawing attention to them. This in itself – the prioritisation of public access and education – can be an ethical stance. By seeking to untangle the afterlives of problematic heritage, as I have done with the Belitung shipwreck, this research project has implications for the management, interpretation and display of other commercially salvaged underwater cultural heritage.