Indonesian documentary heritages enter UNESCO’s Memory of the World

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3 hours ago

Jakarta (ANTARA) – Indonesia has marked another milestone in the preservation of the world’s documentary heritage through the establishment of the 11th UNESCO Memory of the World Committee for Asia and the Pacific (MoWCAP) General Meeting.

The meeting, held at the National Archives of the Republic of Indonesia (ANRI) Building on Thursday (Nov 5), designated three pieces of heritage as part of the world’s collective memory, namely Bo’ Sangaji Kai, Kidung Bhuwana Wina, and the collection of the HB Jassin Literature Documentation Center (PDS).

Head of ANRI and Chair of Memory of the World Indonesia, Mego Pinandito, said the achievement demonstrates Indonesia’s commitment to preserving documentary heritage.

“UNESCO MoWCAP’s trust in Indonesia, through ANRI, to host this event is an honor and a form of appreciation for the preservation of documentary heritage in Indonesia,” Pinandito remarked.

According to him, the designation highlights the significance of the three documentary heritage items in recording the history, intellectual traditions, and social and cultural ties between Indonesian society and the wider Southeast Asian region.

The first documentary heritage designated is Bo’ Sangaji Kai, a manuscript representing an important primary source on the history of the Bima Sultanate, diplomatic and trade relations in Southeast Asia, and an authentic record of the 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora.

The manuscript contains valuable insights into the governance practices of the Bima Sultanate, including the role of the Sultanah and legal protections afforded to women.

The second documentary heritage is Kidung Bhuwana Wina, outlining a local perspective on the political history, diplomacy, and resistance against Dutch colonialism involving the Kingdoms of Bali and Lombok.

As the only known traditional Balinese kidung documenting these events, the manuscript holds significant literary and historical value; representing the intellectual, spiritual, and literary traditions of the Balinese people that continue to live on today through the practice of chanting on Saraswati Day.

The third documentary heritage comes from the H.B. Jassin Literary Documentation Center, namely the “Southeast Asian Literary Network” archive within the modern literature collection, which documents the development of modern literature, as well as intellectual and cultural relations between writers in the Southeast Asian region.

The 11th MoWCAP session, held in Jakarta, provided a platform for member countries to review documentary heritage nominations, report on the progress of the Memory of the World program, and assess collections for inclusion in the Asia-Pacific regional register.

The meeting resulted in the registration of 21 documentary heritage collections from 10 countries across the Asia-Pacific region.