Seminar ‘The European Side of the Schoemann Collection of Indonesian Manuscripts in Berlin’

In a relatively short period (1845-51), a German teacher in the Dutch East Indies called Karl Schoemann brought together a substantial collection of manuscripts, all in all almost 300 items. This collection consists of examples from nearly all writing traditions of Indonesia. Last October, in the framework of the Frankfurt Book Fair, a part of the Schoemann collection was exhibited to the general public. Thanks to the support of the National Museum in Jakarta, this exhibition was accompanied by a bilingual catalogue (German and Indonesian), lavishly illustrated with photos in full colour. This presentation will pay special attention to the European side of this collection of Indonesian manuscripts.

Edwin Wieringa is Professor of Indonesian Philology and Islamic Studies at the University of Cologne. His most recent publication is (together with T. Hanstein) Schrift Sprache; Aksara dan Bahasa. Ausstellungskatalog; Katalog Pameran (Berlin; Jakarta, 2015).

Please register if you wish to attend this seminar: [email protected]