Re-interpreting heritage: viewing the Malay Peninsula’s colonial-era missionary monuments as public art

The role of public art in the heritage re-interpretation of colonial-era buildings in Asia is an under-researched area in tourism studies. Whereas the gentrification of public space and the opening up of stately architecture for public use is an established practice in Europe, the baggage of colonial history throughout much of developing Asia requires different strategies to engage the public with old buildings that have long-outlived their original purposes. By examining both the existing and potential future role of public art as a catalyst to elevate colonial heritage sites in the Malay Peninsula for tourism, this paper highlights the role of public art as a hybrid form of heritage with the power to act as an interlocutor linking tourism to memory, identity and heritage. In doing so, it strategizes how monuments to otherwise conflicted histories can, with careful curation of their identities, evolve towards being containers of a living heritage for tourists as well as locals.