Workshop: Commodity, Plantation and Colonialism in IndonesiaCurrent Research in Social, Economic and Architectural History

Pavillon 333, Türkenstraße 15, Munich
July 23, 2026, 1:00 - 6:30 p.m.
July 24, 2026, 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Registration: contact@sagonese.de

This workshop brings together historians of different disciplines engaged in the histories of commodities, plantations, and colonialism with a particular area focus on Indonesia. It aims to foster dialogue among scholars based in and around Germany whose work spans the architectural, social, and economic history of the subject over a long period from the early modern to the contemporary. The workshop is also organized in conjunction with the visit of the distinguished historian and anthropologist Pujo Semedi from Yogyakarta. Rather than centering on a single thematic framework and historical period, the workshop profits from a shared subject, area focus, and attitude—a critical engagement with the structures and legacies of colonial economies, lifeworlds, and built environments. These already provide all speakers with a common ground for open-ended and meaningful exchange.

Program

Thursday, July 23, 2026
12:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. arrival

1:00 - 1:30 p.m.
Opening
Prof. Dr. Andres Lepik (Technical University of Munich)
Geraldus Martimbang

Panel 1
1:30 - 2:00 p.m.
Sam Miske (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)
Cultivation and Colonisation: Nutmeg Production, Labour, and Ecology on the Banda Islands before and after the Conquest of 1621

2:00 - 2:30 p.m.
Dr. Joëlla van Donkersgoed (University of Luxembourg)
Afterlives of the Perkenierstelsel: Nutmeg’s Legacies in the Banda Islands

2:30 - 3:00 p.m.
Prof. Dr. Grace Leksana (Universiteit Utrecht)
Learning from small commodities: Kayu putih and colonial strategies in the Moluccans

Break 3:00 - 3:15 p.m.

3:15 - 4:00 p.m.
Q&A Panel 1

Break 4:00 - 4:15 p.m.

4:15 - 6:15 p.m.
Keynote
Prof. Dr. Pujo Semedi (Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta)
Sharing in Indonesian Plantations 1870-2020

18:15 - 18:45
Short film screening
Maria Putri Majapahit (Graduate from Architectural Association, London)
Can the Unseen Speak?

Friday, July 24, 2026

8:30 - 9:00 a.m. arrival

9:00 - 9:45 a.m.
PD Dr. Friederike Sattler (Goethe-Universität Frankfurt)
German Investments in the Plantation Economy of Southeast Asia: The Case of the Straits and Sunda Syndicate 1910-1945

9:45 - 10:30 a.m.
Wijnt van Asselt, MA (Stichting Indisch Thee- en Familiearchief, Amersfoort)
Karel Felix Kerkhoven. The Life of a Colonial Tea Planter 1887-1966

Break 10:30 - 10:45 a.m.

10:45 - 11:30 a.m.
Geraldus Martimbang (Technische Universität München)
The Making of "Native" Architectures by Priangan's Planters 1830-1940

11:30 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
Dr. Will Davis (Università della Svizzera italiana, Mendrisio)
A Villa is a Plantation

12:00 a.m. - 13:00 p.m.
Concluding Discussion

14:00 - 15:00 p.m.
Film screening from the exhibition Nge-Téh
"We had to squat and perform sembah, edan!"