Southeast Asian Manuscripts Database Launch

29 September 2021, by Webmaster

Photo: DREAMSEA

DREAMSEA is launching an open-access data base to preserve the diversity of texts contained in Southeast Asian manuscripts. The opening event takes place this Friday, 1 October.

Manuscripts are an essential part of Southeast Asia’s rich cultural heritage. Many of these manuscripts are privately owned – and many are in a precarious condition. To prevent the contents of these manuscripts from being lost forever, they must be protected and preserved.

The ‘Digital Repository of Endangered and Affected Manuscripts in Southeast Asia (DREAMSEA)’ is a programme that aims to preserve Southeast Asian manuscripts and their contents in order to make these immense cultural treasures available to the world. Since 2018, it has digitised more than 2,000 manuscripts from Indonesia, Thailand, and Laos. The resulting images are made accessible online at a high resolution in cooperation with the Hill Museum and Manuscript Library (HMML) in Minnesota, USA. 

This Friday, 1 October 2021, DREAMSEA will present the launch of the ‘Southeast Asian Manuscripts Database’. The database will serve as a source of reference for manuscripts in Southeast Asia. The launch will happen as an online event for which you can register via this website.

DREAMSEA is coordinated by the CSMC and the Center for the Study of Islam and Society of the Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University in Jakarta. For more information on the programme, please visit the DREAMSEA website.