Yulianti Yulianti

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.