THE uniforms of the Indonesian athletes at the Rio Olympics. The Indonesian restaurant in Amsterdam. Officials' offices in Jakarta and souvenir bags handed out at international conferences in Bali. 'Indonesia' is batik, carved garuda birds, woven golden songket cloth... decorations that are not just ornaments, but signifiers.

Over time, these signs have ossified, frozen, become weighty. Their role as decoration has gone; they can be displayed with mi