The research project seeks to investigate continuing colonial frameworks of knowledge about cultural objects and their histories and explore new frameworks to research and knowledge of cultural objects collected in colonial situations. Objects looted as war booty from the Cakranegara palace in Lombok, Indonesia, in 1894 serves to investigate the dynamics of the existing historical framework through an analysis of language, discourse, and historiography in both countries. The research will explore objects of the Lombok war booty as windows through which memories and histories of their original values and meanings can be viewed.
New Futures for Indonesian Objects is a three-year international research programme about objects collected in a colonial context. It is part of the Dutch Research Agenda (NWA) programme entitled “Research into Collections with a Colonial Context” and coordinated and co-led by Gadjah Mada University in collaboration with the University of Amsterdam. Consotrium partners are the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Indonesia, Wereldmuseum, and Rijksmuseum. This project will encompass a range of activities and programs, including collaborative and interdisciplinary research, as it brings together researchers from diverse academic backgrounds. Key components of the project include resource collection through visits to archives and local communities, public engagement through exhibitions, seminars, and public lectures. This project also contributes to academic development initiatives, as proofed by the active participation of two postdoctoral researchers, one PhD candidate, and one master’s student, all of whom will take part in a sandwich program between Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) and the University of Amsterdam (UvA).
We welcome your questions, feedback, and collaboration inquiries related to the New Futures for Indonesian Objects. Please feel free to reach out to us via email for more information or to connect with our research team: pastfutureheritage.ugm@gmail.com.
