Accumulating Meanings, Transcending Borders: Appropriations and Transactions of “Hindu-Buddhist” Materials in Early Modern Indonesia

Panggah, Ardiyansyah

Abstract

This thesis focuses on the afterlives of ancient materials in Indonesia, a project aiming to contribute to decolonising the field of Indonesian art history and archaeology.1 I pursue this essential purpose by adopting a specific local epistemological prism, kramat, to signify the diachronic perspective of sites whose topographical landscape functions as deposit of stories and mystical power. Through the conceptual work of kramat, I seek to consider how ancient materials carry renewed and renegotiated meanings for the local communities in later times. In so doing, this thesis aims to deconstruct the rigid categorisation opposing the “classical” period—encompassing the Hindu and Buddhist antiquities produced between the 4th and 15th centuries—and the subsequent Islamic artistic tradition from the 16th century onwards. Furthermore, meditative work through kramat intends to reconstruct the continuing lives of Indonesian ancient materials across times and cultures in probing appropriations, transaction, and reconfigurations. The accumulation of meanings and memories speak volumes about the (after)lives of Hindu and Buddhist materials, from their origins in ancient Indonesia to their transforming status as Islamic constructions in later times. In this context, this thesis argues that sacred sites accumulate localised narratives that persist and continue to be reactivated amidst different socio-cultural contexts, thus making propositions distinct from those commonly being reduplicated in museums and universities.

Citation

Panggah, A. Accumulating Meanings, Transcending Borders: Appropriations and Transactions of “Hindu-Buddhist” Materials in Early Modern Indonesia. (Thesis). SOAS University of London

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: May 30, 2025
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.25501/soas.00464658
• Additional Information: 247 pages
• Award Date: Jan 1, 2025