Penelehhistory.com: Surabaya (1/9/24) – Kate McGregor, a professor from the University of Melbourne, Australia, is in the process of researching Submerged Histories in Indonesia and the Netherlands (Submerged Histories: Memory Activism in Indonesia and the Netherlands).
This research takes examples of real activities, which are being carried out by the Begandring Soerabaia (Surabaya, Indonesia) and TiMe Amsterdam (Amsterdam, Netherlands) communities, which are sponsored by RCE (The Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands), which is part of the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science .
Kate is a professor in the field of Indonesian history, based on the School of Historical and Philosophical Studies at the University of Melbourne. As a professor, focusing on Indonesian history, Kate’s research includes Indonesian historiography, memories of violence, the Indonesian military, Islam and identity in Indonesia and historical international links between Indonesia and the world.
This time, by coming to Surabaya twice and the Netherlands, her research is related to Submerged Histories in Indonesia and the Netherlands (Submerged Histories: Memory Activism in Indonesia and the Netherlands).
In these two countries, Kate specifically observes a project carried out by two communities in Surabaya and Amsterdam in “the Peneleh as a Living Library 2024 project”.
Kate is interested in this project because the Peneleh European Cemetery is a heritage site from both sides: the Dutch and Surabaya (Dutch East Indies). However, for decades, Peneleh’s European tomb seemed to have been neglected. As a result, many grave ornaments were looted. For example, gravestones made of marble. The loss and damage to the tombstones is not just the loss of marble, but important historical stories of people written on the marble.
This is what causes history to become submerge. Therefore, when there is a Peneleh as a Living Library project, this submerged history can be revealed. This is what Kate McGregor pays attention so that she came directly from Australia to Surabaya and Amsterdam.
Kate came to Surabaya twice. The first was in March 2023 and August 2024. Meanwhile, her visit to the Netherlands was in June-July 2024. From these two places, Kate collected data about the efforts of both parties to uncover hidden history.
For both parties, the Peneleh Tomb in Surabaya is important. Through the Peneleh Tomb which is used as a project as a living library, the two sides are not only exploring the hidden history of the past, but are also building a future history based on mutually beneficial cooperation and shared history. History is not only about the past, but history is a portrait of the future.
On Kate’s second visit to Surabaya on August 31 2024, Kate focused on the tomb objects which are carried out in Peneleh as a Living Library. Kate took a closer look at the temporary results of the grave work process starting from the grave of PJB Perez, the grave with Sister Ursulinen, the grave of Pastor Van Den Elsen, Resident Daniel Francois Willem Pietermaat, ACW Director Cornelis Freede, Governor General Peter Merkus and photographer Ohannes Kurkdjian.
From information sharing between TiMe Amsterdam and Begandring Soerabaia, biographies of selected figures buried in the Peneleh European Cemetery are compiled. There are 8 selected graves in the Peneleh as a Living Library project for 2024. It is hoped by both parties that the Peneleh project can be an inspiration to explore the hidden history of other European cemeteries in Indonesia and elsewhere, which were once Dutch colonies. This Peneleh as a Living Library activity has received the attention of the Dutch Ambassador to Indonesia, Lamberts Grijns. (nng).