It’s grant writing season again. This is a stressful time for all struggling academics. But one of the biggest stresses is that every grant application now demands some sort of obeisance to the Gods of Utility. We must exhaustively document how our...

The rich KITLV collection was formed between 1851 and 2014. As of 2014, its management was transferred to the Leiden University Library, while its ownership remained with the Vereniging of KITLV. Material ...

Thank you for taking the time to read our very first Traveling Caribbean Heritage (TCH) Newsletter, of which many more will follow in the years to come. We will strive to publish an issue every three months or so...

Tom Hoogervorst has won the 2017 Young Scholars Prize, a biennial competition for original articles awarded by the international journal Indonesia and the Malay World. His submission, 'What kind of language was...

"What does it mean to be Aruban, Bonairian or Curaçaoan? In the Traveling Caribbean Heritage project historian Gert Oostindie studies this question together with PhD candidate Joeri Arion and heritage specialist ...

Het instituut heeft een goed jaar achter de rug. Onze onderzoekers publiceerden, zoals uit het onderstaande blijkt, bijna honderd titels: boeken, bundels en artikelen, zowel peer-reviewed voor de internationale...

The recent turmoil about the role of radical Islam in elections for a new Governor of Jakarta conceals another dimension of Indonesian politics: the decades long effort of an old elite family to grab the presidency in Indonesia....

'Politik ekstrem kanan: Brexit, Trump, Wilders, dan Pilkada Jakarta?', by Liston Siregard. An article on the website of BBC Indonesia on Brexit, Trump, Wilders and the Jakarta elections with an interview with Ward...

In Bangkok, the mourning of King Bhumibol Adulyadej has become part of the city’s daily life. David Kloos took pictures. When King Bhumibol of Thailand died on 13 October 2016 hundreds of thousands took to the streets ...

"See what is left of our rubber trees", says Titik, the leader of a group of angry villagers. After a magnificent boat ride through majestic forest, I met his group in Rawang, Central Kalimantan, standing at the edge of ...

Framing Asia will be a monthly filmscreening during the Leiden Asia Year, organised by the KITLV, IIAS ( and the department Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology of Leiden University. Framing Asia is ...

With great sadness we inform you that Peter Boomgaard passed away yesterday evening. His situation had been critical since early November 2016. KITLV has lost an eminent scholar, a good colleague and a dear friend....

The relocation of the KITLV colletion to Leiden University Library resulted in the (re)discovery of valuable source materials that had not yet been made available to the public. Among them are two hundred fifty issues of Sin Min (新民), ‘The New...

Indonesia made international headlines with its 2006 Anti-Pornography Bill and controversial virginity tests for female military recruits in 2015. The ensuing debate on decency, chastity and the perceived...