11-12 MAY 2001
LEIDEN, THE NETHERLANDS
Changing the Guard, Guarding the Past
The Oral History Project on Indonesia (Stichting Mondelinge Geschiedenis Indonesië, SMGI) was founded in 1997. Its aim is to form an oral history archive recording personal experiences under colonial rule, during the Pacific War and decolonization, and in an independent Indonesia. In 2001, the first phase of the interview program of the Foundation, 'The End of Dutch Colonial Presence in Asia, 1940-1962', will be completed. To mark this occasion, a two-day conference on oral testimonies of the transition from colonial rule to independence in South and Southeast Asia will be held in Leiden, the Netherlands.
By FRIDUS STEIJLEN
These oral history collections, focusing on the end of European colonialism in Asia and the emergence of new, independent nations, will be critically evaluated at the conference. These collections are 'The Plain Tales of the Raj/Indian Tales of the Raj', the collections of the National Archive of Indonesia and of Singapore, and the SMGI collection. The main issue to be considered at the conference will be that of national biases in the stories about the transition from colonialism to independence.The first day is reserved for specialists on oral and Asian history. Speakers have been selected from among initiators and archivists of collections, and from historians, with an 'insider' and 'outsider' discussing every collection. By juxtaposing the collections of both the Asian countries and the former colonizing powers, we seek to stimulate participants to discuss the biases of the different collections as well as the issue of 'nationalization' of memory. The second day on the SMGI collection will be open to the public. Morning presentations will cover the experiences and stories of those Dutch inhabitants who were not interned during the Japanese occupation, of business personnel and shop owners, and the military. During the afternoon, there will be parallel sessions on a range of related topics in which the interviewers present their experiences and findings during their research.
For more information,
contact the conference secretariat:
Dr Fridus Steijlen, SMGI
c/o Royal Institute for Anthropology and Linguistics (KITLV)
P.O. Box 9515
2300 RA Leiden, the Netherlands
Tel: +31-71-527 2639
Fax. +31-71-527 2638
E-mail: smgi@kitlv.nl