Image: Sadiah Boonstra’s Public Lecture Materials (13 February 2025).
The research project “Exploring New Futures for Indonesian Objects: Dismantling Colonial Knowledge Production and Recovering Lost Histories and Memories” officially commenced on January 25, 2025. The project is a three-year program funded by the Royal Dutch Research Council (NWA), led by Professor Bambang Purwanto (History Department, Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada) and Professor Ihab Saloul (Amsterdam School for Heritage, Memory, and Material Culture, Universiteit van Amsterdam). This project convenes a distinguished consortium of experts and institutions both in the Netherlands and Indonesia, namely Universiteit van Amsterdam, Wereldmuseum, Rijksmuseum, Universitas Gadjah Mada, and the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Indonesia.
This project seeks to explore the colonial framework that has shaped our understanding and knowledge of historical objects, focusing on the Lombok Treasures looted from Cakranegara Palace in 1894. Adopting a decolonial perspective, this project reframes these heritage objects as living entities endowed with knowledge and cultural significance, rather than mere relics. Thus, the repatriation of the Lombok Treasures was viewed as a process extending beyond the physical return from the Netherlands to Indonesia, embracing it as an opportunity for exploring local knowledge, memories, and histories. Drawing upon an interdisciplinary approach including history, memory studies, information studies, and heritage studies, this project aims to produce scholarly works that include publications and a website.
Exploring New Futures for Indonesian Objects also constitutes a vital component of an innovative educational research program focused on advancing critical heritage studies. This initiative is exemplified by the participation of two postdoctoral researchers, one PhD researcher, and one MA student who will engage in this research framework through a sandwich program between Universitas Gadjah Mada and the Universiteit van Amsterdam.
In alignment with its overarching vision to foreground local ontologies and epistemologies, this project will cultivate meaningful engagement with various stakeholders, particularly museums and local communities. Hence, giving more nuance and understanding of the Lombok Treasure’s significance, while promoting a more inclusive and participatory approach to the future of heritage management and policies in Indonesia.
Project Leaders
- Bambang Purwanto (Department of History, Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada)
- Ihab Saloul (Amsterdam School for Heritage, Memory, and Material Culture, Universiteit van Amsterdam)
Postdocs
- Sadiah Boonstra
- Yulianti
PhD Researcher
- Ayu Wulandari
MA Researcher
- Hizkirani Jatiningrum
Image: Sadiah Boonstra’s Public Lecture Poster (13 February 2025).