In the past 2 years, KITLV has run a pilot-project on the coloniality of Asian library and manuscript-formations. In this session, the public will be able to see and engage with a selection of objects from the collection the team researched, and with the stories these objects can tell, as discovered by our researchers.

With the KITLV Special Collections as point of departure, we have studied the social biographies of manuscripts, and the colonial histories of collecting, to gain insight into the role of violence therein, and to recognize local agency in the makings of so-called Asian Libraries. The KITLV’s Special Collections thereby provide a prism to understand what unpacking ‘the Asian Library’ may reveal. At the occasion of KITLV 175 year's celebration the team will reflect on the objects, questions and results of this research in 2 different sessions. In session 1, the public will be able to see and engage with a selection of objects from the collection the team researched, and with the stories these objects can tell, as discovered by our researchers. We are exhibiting a variety of manuscripts that embody the themes of the research project and the results of our provenance and biographical research. The KITLV collection of Indonesian manuscripts is unique in that it contains many works commissioned by, or even produced by, colonial-era scholars and administrators themselves.

The selection includes items acquired in various circumstances, ranging from war and violence to scholarly exchange. It also includes manuscripts that raise questions about the role of Indonesian creators and collaborators in the production, assembling and interpretation of the manuscripts, and about the evolving approaches to handling sensitive manuscripts. For example: What does it mean when a pusaka manuscript, intended to remain hidden from the public, is now digitally available on the Leiden University Library website?

NB: session 2 will be in the Kartinizaal from 13-14 hrs.

NNB: a maximum audience of 20 people is allowed at any given time. You are not allowed to bring coats, bags, pens, food or drink into the room.