Conflicting discourses are common, even in recognised ‘bastions of verity’ such as museums, and fictional narratives are often promoted as historical truth. I have created a fictional Javanesque culture, i.e. the Island of Tana Swiwi, mediated through the fictional cultural institution, being the Museum of Lost Worlds, through which to explore the idea that truth and meaning are divergent concepts. ‘Artefacts’ from Tana Swiwi are ‘re-constructed,’ and a ‘traditional’ ritual is ‘re-enacted’ for the Museum, in order to further develop that notion.