On Wednesday 26 January KITLV and the Organization for Social Science and Humanities of the Indonesian National Agency of Research and Innovation (ISSH-BRIN) gave a new impulse to their longstanding cooperation by signing a renewed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). Apart from this, KITLV also signed a new Letter of Agreement (LoA) with the Research Center for Society and Culture (Pusat Riset Masyarakat dan Budaya, PMB-BRIN) about the joint project ‘Recording the Future: An Audiovisual Archive of Everyday Life in Indonesia’.

During the meeting, Prof. Dr. Ahmad Najib Burhani, chairman of ISSH-BRIN, Dr. Diana Suhardiman, director of KITLV, and Dr. Lilis Mulyani, Head of PMB-BRIN, expressed their commitment to sustained collaboration. Two talented young researchers pitched their projects to the audience. Yogi Setya Permana, a PhD candidate at KITLV, spoke about his research on the practice and politics of flood management in four Indonesian cities. Leolita Masnun, a PhD candidate at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, introduced her work on contentious politics in Southwest Maluku. Both presentations showcased how all parties benefit from fruitful collaboration both in terms of substance and the need to develop shared networks. Prof. dr. Fridus Steijlen (KITLV and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) and Dr. Widjajanti Santoso (PMB-BRIN) prepared an introduction of the ‘Recording the Future’ project as another example of the benefits of joint forces, especially on the long term.

The signing of the MoU was a special occasion on multiple levels. It was the first signature Diana Suhardiman placed on an agreement for international cooperation in her capacity as Director of KITLV. It was also symbolic of a new start in a world that is anticipating gradual re-opening in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.