Ethnic Mimicry in Performances of Indigeneity at Sarawak Cultural Village, Malaysia

This article examines Sarawak Cultural Village (SCV), a self-proclaimed “living museum” in Kuching, Sarawak. It focuses on the Iban, Orang Ulu, and Bidayuh dances performed daily as “welcoming dances” and as staged proscenium performances. Over the past decade, SCV has shifted from a site featuring actual Indigenous communities to a commercial ecosystem that mimics Indigeneity, due to the reduced presence of Indigenous people at the site. To survive, SCV adopted cost-cutting strategies, employing workers on shifts who must multitask and perform dances of multiple ethnic groups. Mimicry thus becomes essential for sustaining tourism demands. While SCV promotes the state’s ideology of inclusivity and unity, it simultaneously homogenizes and simplifies complex ethnic identities. Using an ethnographic lens, this study explores the dynamics of authenticity and commodification at SCV, showing the complex negotiations it has undertaken to survive in the tourism industry, where “Indigeneity” is strategically reconstructed rather than organically lived.