Bachelor thesis | South and Southeast Asian Studies (BA)
closed access
The gamelan is an ensemble, well-known as an Indonesian icon, and popular in today's media. However, how well do we really know about its background and roots? How ancient/recent is it, for...Show moreThe gamelan is an ensemble, well-known as an Indonesian icon, and popular in today's media. However, how well do we really know about its background and roots? How ancient/recent is it, for instance? The paper proposes various lines of investigation while highlighting issues of perception and definition hidden in the very core of the object of investigation. Current public perceptions of the gamelan may have to undergo challenges if we are to find an answer. In compensation for such challenges, we discover a fascinating Asia-wide cultural, social and historical perspective and a delightfully rich matrix in which the gamelan emerged.Show less
Bachelor thesis | South and Southeast Asian Studies (BA)
open access
The debate of restitution and the return of cultural treasures has been a hot topic in international media in recent years. France, Germany, the Netherlands and most recently, Belgium are the...Show moreThe debate of restitution and the return of cultural treasures has been a hot topic in international media in recent years. France, Germany, the Netherlands and most recently, Belgium are the European countries that are trying to address these challenging questions from a different perspective. Undoubtedly, the return of cultural heritage is a complex and emotionally loaded subject for all the parties involved. For instance, in 2020 Congolese activist Mwazulu Diyabanza Siwa Lemba and his ‘comrades’ from the organization Unité Dignité Courage (UDC) took these matters literally in their own hands. They attempted to ‘restitute’ objects from three French museums: a museum in Marseille, Quai Branly, and Louvre in Paris, as well as from Afrika Museum in Berg en Dal, the Netherlands. From Afrika museum, Mwazulu Diyabanza took a wooden statue and live-streamed this attempt on the internet. Later, in 2021, he was charged by a court of Nijmegen. He has more pending court cases in France regarding the same acts of vigilantism. While for ‘outsiders’ this is an act of crime and an attempt of theft, UDC sees it as a noble deed of taking back what was ‘stolen’ from Africa by colonialists. The organization frames it as an act of ‘free speech’. News outlets semi-ironically labeled the Congolese activist ‘the Robin Hood of the restitution’.Show less
