The Internal Kick-Off Meeting for the Re:Sound project, titled “Restituting, Reconnecting, Reimagining Sound Heritage

beritapenelitian Thursday, 22 May 2025

The Internal Kick-Off Meeting for the Re:Sound project, titled “Restituting, Reconnecting, Reimagining Sound Heritage,” held on 14 April 2025, marked the official launch of a multiyear, multi-institutional research initiative focused on critically engaging with colonial-era sound archives. Conducted in a hybrid format—both in person at Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) in Yogyakarta and online via Zoom—the meeting gathered scholars, archivists, curators, students, and community-based practitioners from Indonesia, the Netherlands, and across Southeast Asia. Running from 2025 to 2028, Re:Sound seeks to rethink how sonic heritage is collected, curated, interpreted, and made accessible in the postcolonial present. read more

Call for Applications: PhD Programme in Sound Heritage Studies

penelitian Monday, 24 March 2025

Restituting, Reconnecting, Reimagining Sound Heritage (Re:Sound)

Institutions : Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) and Universiteit van Amsterdam (UvA)
Funding Body : The Dutch Research Council (NWO)
Application Deadline : 5 May 2025
Start Date : 1 August 2025
Duration : 3 years (full-time)

 

Project Overview

Re:Sound renegotiates Eurocentric understandings, conceptions and curations of “heritage”. This Eurocentrism obscures the coloniality of the history that “heritage” is supposed to narrate and obstructs the access of source community stakeholders to their own “heritage”. There is no scholarly or curatorial model to decenter European agencies and diversify understandings of heritage (curation). Re:Sound bridges this knowledge gap by focusing on sonic heritage, in particular two colonial sound collections from Indonesia, now located in the Netherlands, The Jaap Kunst Collection at the University of Amsterdam, and the Philips Holland Omroep-Hollandse Indies radio broadcasts at the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision (NISV).

Re:Sound explores whether and how the inherent divergence of validations and understandings of sonic expression provides ways to reconsider established notions of heritage. It does this through Southeast Asian PhD and stakeholder research in the above Netherlands-based sound collections, and by fostering a transcontinental and inter-Asian curatorial network of academics and source community stakeholders through workshops and summer schools.

With these activities, Re:Sound aims to improve access to Netherlands-based sound collections for Southeast Asian source community researchers and stakeholders. This improvement emphatically includes options for physical and digital restitution. Through the research of the next generation of Southeast Asian scholars and stakeholders, Re:Sound moreover employs colonial sound recordings as historical sources, attending to those recorded voices that are not represented in written historical sources and hence run the risk of being “written out” of history.

Through a more inclusive historiography due to it being sound-source based and through improved access of source community stakeholders to their own heritage, Re:Sound redirects curatorial agency to Southeast Asian stakeholders – a redirection that impacts a diversification of notions of “heritage” and a decentering of European agency in heritage curation).

 

The Collections

The NISV holds the radio broadcasts of the Philips Holland Omroep-Hollandse Indies radio and various uncatalogued audio and video recordings related to the Dutch East Indies from the 1920s. They contain music, rituals, broadcasts of political and cultural events, speeches, debates, interviews and the coverage of insurgencies, festivities, revolts, and wars. NISV’s catalogued collections are hosted on CLARIAH and DANS, online access platforms and interfaces that are only available to researchers physically present in the Netherlands.

The University of Amsterdam (UvA) holds the Jaap Kunst Collection, consisting of 300+ sound recordings on wax cylinders from the islands of Nias, Sumatera, Java, Bali, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Flores, Sumba, Timor, Kisar, the Kai Islands, the Moluccas and West Papua; hundreds of musical instruments from those locations; silent films registering dance and performance practices from those locations; 6,500 photographs of music and dance practices, and musical instruments from those locations; research reports of research expeditions to these locations; 40,000 pages of correspondence in Dutch, English, German, Indonesian/Malay and Javanese, with researchers (both within and outside Indonesia from a variety of disciplines), informants, officials, musicians, cultural entrepreneurs, and academic and archive institutions; teaching materials; publication manuscripts.

Jaap Kunst (1891–1960) and his wife Katy Kunst-Van Wely (1897–1992) “produced” this material (through recording, assembling, organizing, categorizing, annotating, writing and publishing)  between 1919 and 1934 when he was a civil servant of the Dutch colonial administration in the Dutch East Indies. Through this work and his excellent international networking skills, Jaap Kunst continues to be regarded as a “founding father” of the discipline of ethnomusicology: Kunst’s methodological approaches were adopted in virtually the entire Anglophone academic world. His Collection is, therefore, one of the richest and well-known ethnographic collections worldwide, pertaining to the history of Indonesia, the performance cultures of Indonesia, colonial history, and the history of science (anthropology and ethnomusicology.

 

PhD Programme

This project offers one (1) fully funded PhD position in sound heritage studies at UGM with the following

Supervisory Team:

  • Supervisor: Dr. Sri Margana (UGM)
  • Co-Supervisor: Dr. B. (Barbara) Titus (UvA) and Dr. M.J. (meLê) Yamomo (UvA)

Candidate Responsibilities:

  • Complete the doctoral dissertation with contractual obligations.
  • Co-author at least one peer-reviewed article with the supervisory team.
  • Collaborate with digital archivists and local heritage organisations to develop the repository.
  • Present findings at international conferences (e.g., EUROSEAS, ICAS, ICTM – Southeast Asia).
  • Actively participate in our meetings, workshops, and summer school.

    • read more

    Call for Applications: PhD Programme in Sound Heritage Studies

    announcementresearch Monday, 24 March 2025

    Restituting, Reconnecting, Reimagining Sound Heritage (Re:Sound)

    Institutions : Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) and Universiteit van Amsterdam (UvA)
    Funding Body : The Dutch Research Council (NWO)
    Application Deadline : 5 May 2025
    Start Date : 1 August 2025
    Duration : 3 years (full-time)

     

    Project Overview

    Re:Sound renegotiates Eurocentric understandings, conceptions and curations of “heritage”. This Eurocentrism obscures the coloniality of the history that “heritage” is supposed to narrate and obstructs the access of source community stakeholders to their own “heritage”. There is no scholarly or curatorial model to decenter European agencies and diversify understandings of heritage (curation). Re:Sound bridges this knowledge gap by focusing on sonic heritage, in particular two colonial sound collections from Indonesia, now located in the Netherlands, The Jaap Kunst Collection at the University of Amsterdam, and the Philips Holland Omroep-Hollandse Indies radio broadcasts at the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision (NISV).

    Re:Sound explores whether and how the inherent divergence of validations and understandings of sonic expression provides ways to reconsider established notions of heritage. It does this through Southeast Asian PhD and stakeholder research in the above Netherlands-based sound collections, and by fostering a transcontinental and inter-Asian curatorial network of academics and source community stakeholders through workshops and summer schools.

    With these activities, Re:Sound aims to improve access to Netherlands-based sound collections for Southeast Asian source community researchers and stakeholders. This improvement emphatically includes options for physical and digital restitution. Through the research of the next generation of Southeast Asian scholars and stakeholders, Re:Sound moreover employs colonial sound recordings as historical sources, attending to those recorded voices that are not represented in written historical sources and hence run the risk of being “written out” of history.

    Through a more inclusive historiography due to it being sound-source based and through improved access of source community stakeholders to their own heritage, Re:Sound redirects curatorial agency to Southeast Asian stakeholders – a redirection that impacts a diversification of notions of “heritage” and a decentering of European agency in heritage curation).

     

    The Collections

    The NISV holds the radio broadcasts of the Philips Holland Omroep-Hollandse Indies radio and various uncatalogued audio and video recordings related to the Dutch East Indies from the 1920s. They contain music, rituals, broadcasts of political and cultural events, speeches, debates, interviews and the coverage of insurgencies, festivities, revolts, and wars. NISV’s catalogued collections are hosted on CLARIAH and DANS, online access platforms and interfaces that are only available to researchers physically present in the Netherlands.

    The University of Amsterdam (UvA) holds the Jaap Kunst Collection, consisting of 300+ sound recordings on wax cylinders from the islands of Nias, Sumatera, Java, Bali, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Flores, Sumba, Timor, Kisar, the Kai Islands, the Moluccas and West Papua; hundreds of musical instruments from those locations; silent films registering dance and performance practices from those locations; 6,500 photographs of music and dance practices, and musical instruments from those locations; research reports of research expeditions to these locations; 40,000 pages of correspondence in Dutch, English, German, Indonesian/Malay and Javanese, with researchers (both within and outside Indonesia from a variety of disciplines), informants, officials, musicians, cultural entrepreneurs, and academic and archive institutions; teaching materials; publication manuscripts.

    Jaap Kunst (1891–1960) and his wife Katy Kunst-Van Wely (1897–1992) “produced” this material (through recording, assembling, organizing, categorizing, annotating, writing and publishing)  between 1919 and 1934 when he was a civil servant of the Dutch colonial administration in the Dutch East Indies. Through this work and his excellent international networking skills, Jaap Kunst continues to be regarded as a “founding father” of the discipline of ethnomusicology: Kunst’s methodological approaches were adopted in virtually the entire Anglophone academic world. His Collection is, therefore, one of the richest and well-known ethnographic collections worldwide, pertaining to the history of Indonesia, the performance cultures of Indonesia, colonial history, and the history of science (anthropology and ethnomusicology.

     

    PhD Programme

    This project offers one (1) fully funded PhD position in sound heritage studies at UGM with the following

    Supervisory Team:

    • Supervisor: Dr. Sri Margana (UGM)
    • Co-Supervisor: Dr. B. (Barbara) Titus (UvA) and Dr. M.J. (meLê) Yamomo (UvA)

    Candidate Responsibilities:

  • Complete the doctoral dissertation with contractual obligations.
  • Co-author at least one peer-reviewed article with the supervisory team.
  • Collaborate with digital archivists and local heritage organisations to develop the repository.
  • Present findings at international conferences (e.g., EUROSEAS, ICAS, ICTM – Southeast Asia).
  • Actively participate in our meetings, workshops, and summer school.

    • read more

    Dr. Sadiah Boonstra’s Public Lecture: Rethinking the Future of Repatriated Objects

    newsresearch Tuesday, 11 March 2025

    Following the launching of the research project on Lombok Heritage, the Department of History, Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) hosted a public lecture titled “Beyond the Point of No Return: The Re-Emergence of Indonesian Debates and Concepts on the Return of Cultural Objects”. The public lecture was delivered by Dr. Sadiah Boonstra, a historian and curator, as well as the founder of CultureLab Consultancy. She is also one of the postdoctoral researchers within the Indonesia-Netherlands research consortium focused on the Lombok Heritage.

    The lecture was formally opened by the Head of the Department of History, Dr. Abdul Wahid, M.Phil., who delivered the opening remark and introduced the research project on Lombok Heritage, led by Professor Bambang Purwanto (UGM) and Professor Ihab Saloul (Universiteit van Amsterdam).

    Dr. Boonstra’s lecture showed a rich tapestry of historical context, cultural nuance, and contemporary debate about the returned objects. She commenced her presentation with a chronological examination of the repatriation of objects to Indonesia in 1931, which objects consisted of the regalia to the Bone Sultanate. Another repatriation of cultural objects took place in post-independence Indonesia, driven by the spirit of decolonization. Consequently, numerous repatriations were undertaken following complex negotiations, which brought back the Lombok Treasures, Klungkung Collections, Negarakertagama, and other objects to Indonesia. By tracing the chronology of collection returns, Dr. Boonstra illuminated the complex interplay of colonial legacy and decolonial movement that has shaped the trajectory of cultural heritage management.

    As she discussed the underlying issues in the process of the return of cultural objects, Dr. Boonstra revealed the intersection of power, ownership, and cultural authority that have long been embedded in the museological landscape. The decolonialization, the dispossession of indigenous cultures, and the contested meanings of cultural heritage all emerged as critical themes in this narrative. Dr. Boonstra also highlighted the limitations of the government-to-government (G-to-G) process of repatriation, which according to her observation often prioritizes state-level negotiations over community-level engagement. This approach, she argued, can perpetuate the subordination of local communities with a profound emotional and cultural attachment to the objects in question.

    The lecture attracted great interest from the audience. Several questions were about the practical aspects of the return process, inquiring about the logistics of transporting heritage objects, ensuring their safety and security, and navigating the complex bureaucratic procedures involved. In this context, Dr. Boonstra emphasized that the public might have different perspectives on this issue. Therefore, she noted that acknowledging and addressing these concerns is crucial in building trust and fostering a collaborative approach to repatriated object management in Indonesia.

    In posing the question “what is next?” Dr. Boonstra gestured towards a future of collaborative research, inclusive dialogue, and innovative practice in cultural heritage management. She emphasized the importance of local engagement, highlighting the need to amplify the voices and perspectives of local communities in the repatriation process. Repatriation, she argued, should not be merely a matter of returning objects, but rather an opportunity to rebuild relationships between local communities, Indonesia as the nation-state, and the objects themselves, as part of a broader effort towards decolonialization. Hence, the research project on Lombok Heritage, emerged as a beacon of hope, promising to illuminate new pathways for the return, restitution, and reinterpretation of cultural objects.

    In conclusion, Dr. Sadiah Boonstra’s lecture is pivotal for the ongoing conversation about cultural heritage management in Indonesia. As the nation continues to grapple with the complexities of its cultural past, this lecture served as a powerful reminder of the need for nuanced understanding, collaborative effort, and inclusive dialogue in shaping inclusive and equitable heritage management and understanding.

    Dr. Sadiah Boonstra’s Public Lecture: Rethinking the Future of Repatriated Objects

    penelitian Tuesday, 11 March 2025

    Following the launching of the research project on Lombok Heritage, the Department of History, Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) hosted a public lecture titled “Beyond the Point of No Return: The Re-Emergence of Indonesian Debates and Concepts on the Return of Cultural Objects”. The public lecture was delivered by Dr. Sadiah Boonstra, a historian and curator, as well as the founder of CultureLab Consultancy. She is also one of the postdoctoral researchers within the Indonesia-Netherlands research consortium focused on the Lombok Heritage.

    The lecture was formally opened by the Head of the Department of History, Dr. Abdul Wahid, M.Phil., who delivered the opening remark and introduced the research project on Lombok Heritage, led by Professor Bambang Purwanto (UGM) and Professor Ihab Saloul (Universiteit van Amsterdam).

    Dr. Boonstra’s lecture showed a rich tapestry of historical context, cultural nuance, and contemporary debate about the returned objects. She commenced her presentation with a chronological examination of the repatriation of objects to Indonesia in 1931, which objects consisted of the regalia to the Bone Sultanate. Another repatriation of cultural objects took place in post-independence Indonesia, driven by the spirit of decolonization. Consequently, numerous repatriations were undertaken following complex negotiations, which brought back the Lombok Treasures, Klungkung Collections, Negarakertagama, and other objects to Indonesia. By tracing the chronology of collection returns, Dr. Boonstra illuminated the complex interplay of colonial legacy and decolonial movement that has shaped the trajectory of cultural heritage management.

    As she discussed the underlying issues in the process of the return of cultural objects, Dr. Boonstra revealed the intersection of power, ownership, and cultural authority that have long been embedded in the museological landscape. The decolonialization, the dispossession of indigenous cultures, and the contested meanings of cultural heritage all emerged as critical themes in this narrative. Dr. Boonstra also highlighted the limitations of the government-to-government (G-to-G) process of repatriation, which according to her observation often prioritizes state-level negotiations over community-level engagement. This approach, she argued, can perpetuate the subordination of local communities with a profound emotional and cultural attachment to the objects in question.

    The lecture attracted great interest from the audience. Several questions were about the practical aspects of the return process, inquiring about the logistics of transporting heritage objects, ensuring their safety and security, and navigating the complex bureaucratic procedures involved. In this context, Dr. Boonstra emphasized that the public might have different perspectives on this issue. Therefore, she noted that acknowledging and addressing these concerns is crucial in building trust and fostering a collaborative approach to repatriated object management in Indonesia.

    In posing the question “what is next?” Dr. Boonstra gestured towards a future of collaborative research, inclusive dialogue, and innovative practice in cultural heritage management. She emphasized the importance of local engagement, highlighting the need to amplify the voices and perspectives of local communities in the repatriation process. Repatriation, she argued, should not be merely a matter of returning objects, but rather an opportunity to rebuild relationships between local communities, Indonesia as the nation-state, and the objects themselves, as part of a broader effort towards decolonialization. Hence, the research project on Lombok Heritage, emerged as a beacon of hope, promising to illuminate new pathways for the return, restitution, and reinterpretation of cultural objects.

    In conclusion, Dr. Sadiah Boonstra’s lecture is pivotal for the ongoing conversation about cultural heritage management in Indonesia. As the nation continues to grapple with the complexities of its cultural past, this lecture served as a powerful reminder of the need for nuanced understanding, collaborative effort, and inclusive dialogue in shaping inclusive and equitable heritage management and understanding.

    The Research Project “Restituting, Reconnecting, and Reimagining Sound Heritage (Re:Sound)” Receives Funding from the Royal Dutch Research Council (NWO) for 2025-2028

    newsresearch Wednesday, 5 March 2025

    Image: Jaap Kunst’s Collection, Universiteit van Amsterdam, Olivier Middendorp.

    We are delighted to announce that our collaborative research team at the Department of History, Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada, and the Department of Musicology at the University of Amsterdam (UvA) has been awarded a significant grant from the Royal Dutch Research Council (NWO) under the Research into Collections with a Colonial Context program to support our research project, Restituting, Reconnecting, and Reimagining Sound Heritage (Re:Sound).

    Re:Sound is led by Dr. Sri Margana (UGM), the Project Leader and Principal Investigator; Dr. MeLê Yamomo (UvA) and Dr. Barbara Titus (UvA), the Co-Applicants; and Dr. Widya Fitria Ningsih (UGM), the Project Coordinator.

    Commencing on January 25, 2025, Re:Sound is scheduled to cover a wide range of activities over the next four years. These include a PhD researcher employed at UGM who will study sound archives in Europe, non-academic short-term visiting fellows (VFs: artists, activists, grassroots archivists, cultural entrepreneurs, community representatives) from Indonesia to the Netherlands, consortium meetings, and a workshop and summer school hosted by UGM in Yogyakarta.

    We are particularly excited about our collaboration with the Netherlands Institute for Sound & Vision (NISV), which serves as Re:Sound’s Cooperation Partner (CP). Moreover, Re:Sound emphasises the importance of several Associate Partners in Southeast Asia and Europe to build and expand translocal and transcontinental curatorial networks with accompanying communication infrastructures, in which collection curation is collectively managed by both academics and non-academics in source locations and source communities as well as in formerly colonial metropoles.

    The potential impact of Re:Sound is profound. Re:Sound contributes to the complication and diversification of the notion of “heritage” by decentering European agency in the understanding, conception and curation of “heritage” through:

  • A sound-source-based historiography, sensitive to multiple voices and stances at once, with particular attention to voices of those who are not represented or misrepresented in written historical sources on which most historiography has been based.
  • Improved access for source community stakeholders to Dutch and other European archive institutions with regard to physical access (fees, visa, workspace), research access (language, cataloguing, structures of organisation/taxonomy), and digital access (accessibility of online databases and interfaces).

    • read more

    The Research Project “Restituting, Reconnecting, and Reimagining Sound Heritage (Re:Sound)” Receives Funding from the Royal Dutch Research Council (NWO) for 2025-2028

    beritapenelitian Wednesday, 5 March 2025

    Image: Jaap Kunst’s Collection, Universiteit van Amsterdam, Olivier Middendorp.

    We are delighted to announce that our collaborative research team at the Department of History, Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada, and the Department of Musicology at the University of Amsterdam (UvA) has been awarded a significant grant from the Royal Dutch Research Council (NWO) under the Research into Collections with a Colonial Context program to support our research project, Restituting, Reconnecting, and Reimagining Sound Heritage (Re:Sound).

    Re:Sound is led by Dr. Sri Margana (UGM), the Project Leader and Principal Investigator; Dr. MeLê Yamomo (UvA) and Dr. Barbara Titus (UvA), the Co-Applicants; and Dr. Widya Fitria Ningsih (UGM), the Project Coordinator.

    Commencing on January 25, 2025, Re:Sound is scheduled to cover a wide range of activities over the next four years. These include a PhD researcher employed at UGM who will study sound archives in Europe, non-academic short-term visiting fellows (VFs: artists, activists, grassroots archivists, cultural entrepreneurs, community representatives) from Indonesia to the Netherlands, consortium meetings, and a workshop and summer school hosted by UGM in Yogyakarta.

    We are particularly excited about our collaboration with the Netherlands Institute for Sound & Vision (NISV), which serves as Re:Sound’s Cooperation Partner (CP). Moreover, Re:Sound emphasises the importance of several Associate Partners in Southeast Asia and Europe to build and expand translocal and transcontinental curatorial networks with accompanying communication infrastructures, in which collection curation is collectively managed by both academics and non-academics in source locations and source communities as well as in formerly colonial metropoles.

    The potential impact of Re:Sound is profound. Re:Sound contributes to the complication and diversification of the notion of “heritage” by decentering European agency in the understanding, conception and curation of “heritage” through:

  • A sound-source-based historiography, sensitive to multiple voices and stances at once, with particular attention to voices of those who are not represented or misrepresented in written historical sources on which most historiography has been based.
  • Improved access for source community stakeholders to Dutch and other European archive institutions with regard to physical access (fees, visa, workspace), research access (language, cataloguing, structures of organisation/taxonomy), and digital access (accessibility of online databases and interfaces).

    • read more