Project title

Locating Religious Objects in the Lombok Collection

Research question

To what extent had the religious objects changed meaning, narrative, function, and values after they had been looted during the Lombok War in 1894? This question deals critically with elements of ownership and the social history of the objects, not only in the past but also at present and the future after they have been restituted to Indonesia.

Project description

In 2023, 485 objects removed during the colonial period were repatriated to Indonesia. Among them were the so-called Lombok Treasures: objects looted following the fall of Cakranegara in Lombok in 1894. The repatriation catalogue lists a range of religious and spiritual objects: amulets, statues of Hindu deities, ceremonial bowls, plates used for ceremonial dishes, holy water containers, amulet necklaces, and palm manuscripts. Each object was identified by number and name, but with no further information. Their stories remain silenced.

Yulianti sets out to recover those stories. Focusing on the religious objects within the Lombok collection, she investigates questions of ownership, meaning, and historical narrative in order to reconstruct the social history of these objects. Using a decolonial approach, the project deconstructs the narratives imposed by colonial power – narratives that have long silenced and marginalised the social history of these objects – while keeping the history of colonialism itself fully in view.

Selected publications

  • The Making of Buddhism in Modern Indonesia: South and Southeast Asian Networks and Agencies, 1900-1950s, (Leiden: Leiden University Press, 2024).
  • With Bambang Purwanto, Roel Frakking, Abdul Wahid, Gerry van Klinken, Martijn Eickhoff, Ireen Hoogenboom (eds.), Revolutionary Worlds: Local perspectives and dynamics during the Indonesian Independence War, 1945-1949 (Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2023).
  • With Abdul Wahid (ed.), Onze revolutie: Bloemlezing uit de Indonesische geschiedschrijving over de strijd voor de onafhankelijkheid, 1945-1949 (Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2023).
  • The Birth of Buddhist Organizations in Modern Indonesia, 1900–1959. Religions 23 (2022), 217.