ICOMOS Lectures - Reflections on the use of Dutch colonial heritage in Indonesia
In recent years, increasingly historical inner cities in Indonesia with their distinctive Dutch colonial buildings and infrastructure are being revitalized. Increasingly these urban areas transform from no-go areas to popular places for leisure. New restaurants, hotels and shops are opening up in previously vacant buildings, streets and squares are closed off for motorized traffic and instead welcome pedestrians and cyclists. Among local attractions are museums, frequented by groups of students, families and tourists, both foreign and domestic. Many of these museums, either national institutions or centres for local culture, are housed in colonial buildings.
Is this relaxed and positive attitude towards these tangible and often prominent reminders of their country’s colonial past typical for the Indonesian audiences, and why? How do they view the Dutch colonial past? How will these heritage sites be used in the future? And, do they need to be decolonized to stay relevant?
Programme
19:30 Welcome and introduction: Ardjuna Candotti & Remco Vermeulen
19:35 Lecture on the revitalization of Kota Tua, Jakarta by Angeline Basuki
19.45 Short Q&A
19:55 Lecture on Indonesian museum revitalization by Ajeng Ayu Arainikasih
20:05 Short Q&A
20.15 Break
20:20 Panel discussion with Angeline Basuki and Ajeng Ayu Arainikasih
20:30 Reflection by Feba Sukmana
20:40 Q&A
21:00 End
About the lectures
For this lectures evening three Indonesian heritage experts will reflect on the use of Dutch colonial heritage in Indonesia.
Angeline Basuki will give an overview of restoration and reuse projects in Kota Tua, the historical inner city of Jakarta, and an insight in the many challenges faced with these initiatives.
Ajeng Ayu Arainikasih will tell us about the developments of museums in Indonesia: how museums transformed and decolonized over time, particularly throughout different political reigns, and why the use of colonial buildings as museums seems to remain popular.
And Feba Sukmana will reflect on both these lectures, and make a comparison with the current public, and often heated, debate in the Netherlands on the Dutch colonial period in Indonesia in which its negative aspects are gaining attention.
Angeline Basuki is Project Manager of Konsorsium Kota Tua Jakarta. She received her Bachelor in Architecture from Universitas Pelita Harapan and Master of Arts in Heritage Management from University of Kent and Athens University of Economics and Business. Her professional interests focus on cultural heritage and urban development. Angeline was recently assigned as architectural research Individual Consultant in the National Strategic Tourism District of Tana Toraja for the Housing Infrastructure Development Plan by the Ministry of Public Works and Housing. Additionally, she is a member of the Agency of Assessment in the National Indonesian Institute of Architects.
Ajeng Ayu Arainikasih is a PhD candidate in Colonial and Global History at the Institute for History of Leiden University. Her research is on the Decolonization in Indonesian museums. In Indonesia she is a lecturer at the Department of Archaeology, Universitas Indonesia. Ajeng teaches Museum Studies and her expertise is on museum exhibitions and museum education. She is also the co-founder of MuseumIN, a platform that shares knowledge on museum studies and heritage, as well as the founder and director of Museum Ceria, a creative consultancy for museums and heritage sites based in Jakarta.
Feba Sukmana is a journalist at Erasmus Magazine, the independent magazine of Erasmus University Rotterdam. In her free time, she is doing translation work and working on projects related to Indonesia. Feba was born and raised in Jakarta, Indonesia. After completing her bachelor’s degree at Universitas Indonesia, she came to the Netherlands for a master’s programme at Leiden University. She studied language and literature studies with a specialisation in Dutch-Indies literature and postcolonial literary studies.
RSVP for attendance by emailing lezingen@icomos.nl