18 November 2025

The NIAS-NIOD-KITLV Fellowship Moving Objects, Mobilising Culture enables researchers and heritage practitioners from formerly colonised countries to access and conduct research on (collections of) objects – whether defined as cultural, historical, ancestral, art or otherwise – which are currently (lost) in the Netherlands, as well as on related archives and documentation. 

13 November 2025

Following the severe forest fires of 2015, the Indonesian government adopted a stance characterizing traditional fire practices as malicious and Indigenous populations as inherently careless agents. State policy subsequently enforced fire prohibitions, intense surveillance, and detentions, concurrent with the introduction of environmental and developmental initiatives aimed at decoupling fire from the traditional life practices of Indigenous communities. These punitive actions are argued to be misdirected, stemming from an overemphasis on ignition-centric fire studies that often reinforce the marginalization of Indigenous peoples.

7 November 2025

On 7 November KITLV guest researcher Rosa de Jong will defend her thesis on Second World War refugees in the Caribbean at the University of Amsterdam.

6 November

In Land of famished beings, Sophie Chao examines how Indigenous Marind communities understand and theorize hunger in lowland West Papua, a place where industrial plantation expansion and settler-colonial violence are radically reconfiguring ecologies, socialities, and identities.

4 November 2025

In collaboration with the antropology department as part of the Public Anthropology seminar series, we invite Basile Ndjio, Jasmijn Rana, and Naomi van Stapele for a broad discussion on their work in anthropology at the intersection of gender, sports, sexuality, and diversity. The seminar will provide ample space for open discussion, allowing the audience to ask questions and share responses.

28 October

On 28 October KITLV researcher Yogi Permana will defend his thesis on the political economy of flood risk management in Indonesia.

21-23 October 2025

During this conference researchers will present their findings, reflect on the last four years of the Islanders at the Helm project and share insights that matter for everyone living and working on any of the islands of St. Maarten, Saba, St. Eustatius, Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao.

9 October 2025

This talk examines the trope of the “white witch” in the eighteenth-century West Indies as it circulated across travel narratives, colonial reports, works of fiction, natural history, and medical treatises.

8 October 2025

Across the more-than-human landscapes of the Malay Peninsula, miracles and histories persist at sites of crumbling graves and the relics of saints whose karamat endure despite encroaching urban redevelopment. This talk traces the ongoing presence of these sacred remains and pilgrimage sites, attending not only to the material ruination of shrines, but also to the devotional worlds that continue to develop around them. 

7 oktober 2025

Op 7 oktober 2025 verdedigt KITLV onderzoeker en historicus Katja Paijens haar proefschrift aan de Universiteit Leiden. Katja schreef als proefschrift een politieke biografie van één van de ‘vergeten’ spelers uit de Onafhankelijkheidsrevolutie van Indonesië (1945-1949): Max Alkadrie (1913-1978), Sultan Hamid II van Pontianak.

2 October 2025

This study examines the changes in agriculture in Bali, revealing a notable paradox. On one hand, Balinese farming is renowned for its strong local traditions, such as Subak, Tri Hita Karana, and various symbolic rituals. These traditions are often celebrated as cultural icons and are even incorporated into tourism. On the other hand, farming in Bali faces significant challenges: fewer people are choosing to become farmers, production costs often exceed income, agricultural land is rapidly being converted for other uses, and numerous other difficulties have emerged.

23 September 2025

Syahirah Rasheed examines the tensions between biomedical and religio-cultural discourses in medicalised childbirth, rooted in the denigration of indigenous midwives and stereotypes of "native" women. 

16 September 2025

The Dravidian pathway is a timely contribution to public and scholarly understanding of South Indian politics, examining a pivotal period in the rise to power of the Tamil Nadu party Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (the Dravidian Progressive Federation, or DMK).

8 September 2025

This series, organized by the Chair of Public Anthropology of Kingdom Relations, examines the role of anthropology in our rapidly changing world.

4 September 2025

Throughout Kingston, Jamaica, figures known as “dons” exercise political authority and are seen as legitimate leaders despite their associations with crime and violence.

18 July 2025

In Strangers in the family, Guo-Quan Seng provides a gendered history of settler Chinese community formation in Indonesia during the Dutch colonial period (1816–1942). 

10 July 2025

SEMINAR STARTS AT 16.00 PM AND ENDS AT 17.30 PM (CET)

The presentation discusses a selection of Jamaican contemporary art as after-images of its mid to late century pantheonization project and investment in heroic public sculpture. 

8 July 2025

State and development organizations have long sought private sector investment to help bankroll social projects ranging from household water provision to upgrading transportation infrastructure. In the face of skyrocketing costs of climate change impacts, such groups are increasingly looking to private firms to finance adaptation measures. 

27 juni 2025

Het bestuur van de Vereniging KITLV nodigt haar leden uit voor de Algemene Ledenvergadering 2025 op vrijdag 27 juni a.s. 

19 June 2025 

From the Women of Algiers (1834) painting, postcards of the odalisque, to the photograph of the Afghan Girl (1984), representations of Muslim women have been pervasively captured in various image forms across time. Plotted across the 19^th to 21^st centuries, different technologies have contributed to the exponential reproduction and circulation of Muslim women images, evoking a visuality that highlights intersections of technology, ideology, and geography. In the data turn, a new algorithmic visuality is introduced, yielding new formulations to old paradigms.

12 June 2025

This presentation explores the ecocentric dimensions of South Sulawesi’s customary law (adat) and cosmology, focusing on how local wisdom shapes human–environment relationships. Drawing from Bugis, Makassarese, and Mandarese traditions, it highlights a deep-rooted ethic of reciprocity between humans and nature.

3 June 2025 

The talk explores the discourse of gender empowerment in hypermediated Indonesia, foregrounding the significance of digital citizenship for girls and young women in the face of an increasingly constrained civic space. 

27 May 2025 

The Grondkaart is a map indicating land ownership and control boundaries, created by the Dutch East Indies government. It is currently used in Indonesia to demonstrate land control by the state-owned railway company (PT KAI). The Grondkaart is a piece of paper that should serve only as an archive and artefact of the past, having no legal power in post-colonial Indonesia. 

22 May 2025 

Pranata mangsa has been recognized as a Javanese agricultural calendar that dates to ancient times. While recent studies have presented pranata mangsa as one of the key elements of Javanese traditional ecological knowledge in agriculture; historical documents show Dutch influence of the calendar’s evolution back to the nineteenth century.