The people of Indonesia & their culture, politics, economy and environment - Inside Indonesia: The peoples and cultures of Indonesia

Colonial Period

Colonial nostalgia in an Indonesian night market

Despite more critical attention being paid to Indonesia’s colonial past there is also evidence of nostalgia

Beyond decolonisation?

The National Museum of Indonesia is perpetuating colonial narratives and needs to actively engage with younger generations

Decolonising memory

Mendekolonisasi memori

Warisan industri kolonial dan kenangan di baliknya

Sebuah kota pertambangan kolonial di Sumatra Barat yang masuk dalam daftar UNESCO menimbulkan sejumlah pertanyaan kompleks tentang cara Indonesia memandang warisan industri.

Bekerja dengan artefak kolonial di Rijksmuseum

Dengan menggunakan lensa kritis, seniman dapat melihat artefak kolonial dengan sudut pandang yang baru saat meneliti koleksi museum

Review: Kartini's letters in translation

Now published in both English and Indonesian translation, the annotated collection will provide a better understanding of this Indonesian heroine

The generation that breaks the silence

The third generation since the Revolution inherited trauma and stigma. Now they are speaking out.

Dutch terror camps in Bali

During the Indonesian war of independence the Dutch army set up prison camps across Bali, where torture and murder were common. It failed to break the Balinese resistance

Generasi yang memecah kesunyian

Generasi ketiga paska Revolusi, adalah generasi yang diwarisi trauma dan stigma. Kini mereka menolak pengingkaran yang dilakukan negara dan generasi sebelumnya.

Interview: Bonnie Triyana on history as a movement

A Moluccan soldier and his daughter

The story of a senior officer in the Royal Dutch East Indies Army (KNIL), and of his oldest daughter, give voice to Moluccan experiences in colonial history

Chasing a cure for beriberi

A long search for a cure for beriberi in Southeast Asia in the late nineteenth century was led by trial and a lot of error

Book review: Beyond the pale

A major research project on Dutch extreme violence in the Indonesian war of Independence, 1945–1949

Essay: Hey Holland, you’re welcome!

Indonesia’s independence from the Dutch came at a price – Indonesians are still waiting for them to acknowledge it

Merchants and entrepreneurs

Jews in Sumatra in the colonial period

Exhibited as losers

A new artwork holds up a mirror to physical anthropology and its baseless racial categorisations

Kartini in her own words

An essential resource for Indonesian history scholars and students, Kartini's works are now available by open access

Book reviews: Telling the Dutch colonial wars in Aceh and South Sulawesi

Review: Landscape of the soul

An exhibition of wall-hangings and mixed-media depicts the experiences of European Dutch and Eurasian people in Indonesia during the Japanese Occupation, the Revolution and after

Subscribe to Inside Indonesia

Receive Inside Indonesia's latest articles and quarterly editions in your inbox.

Lontar Modern Indonesia

A selection of stories from the Indonesian classics and modern writers, periodically published free for Inside Indonesia readers, courtesy of Lontar.