I am currently working on two book projects:

• Space and the construction of territory in the Dutch East Indies and British Malaya history. This project was supported by the Harvard Asia Center (2018-2019) and the Center for the Study of Manuscript Cultures (2021-2025). It stemmed from two converging research topics and evolved into a book project.

– Affirming rights over land and resources: Originals and authoritative documents in the legal culture of the Malay Peninsula (c. 1780-c. 1910). Supported by the Center for the Study of Manuscript Culture (2021-2024).

The progressive establishment of the British Straits Settlements in the Malay Peninsula between 1786 and 1914 led to a multiplication of diplomatic relations and transactions. These brought about a range of documents like treaties of friendship, letters, and grants of authority, which displayed the legal practices and concepts that were articulated within the Malay culture and became a part of it. The concept of original documents that were legally binding and had authoritative value was one of them. This project focused on the juridical culture of the Malay peninsula and its evolution in the long 19^th century (c. 1780 – c . 1910) related to land use and ownership.

Taking as a starting point the cosmopolitan juridical culture documented in the region before the 19^th century, I have examined the material attributes of inscribed artifacts taken as authoritative and highly valued in the Malay-speaking world. The project considered how the concept of original, as understood historically by the British and the Dutch, has been brought to the region and how it has mingled with existing practices in the writing culture of the Malay world. In this study, I have examined the form of diplomatic correspondence and land deeds in which elements are clearly derived from the Malay and European writing cultures and see in which ways the material form of the manuscripts supports the authoritative function of the documents.

– “Euro-Asian encounters and inter-Asian diplomatic relations in the Malay speaking world (17th-20th century)”. Supported by Harvard Asia Center (2018-2019)

The study focused on uncovering the evolving ‘political cultures’ of the sultanates between the late 17th and the early 20th centuries by looking at the way sovereigns conducted negotiations and settled legal arrangements with European agents. From that perspective, the study analyzed diplomatic and legal documents produced in the Malay language (jawi) – letters, treaties, contracts, and leases – considering them in the conditions of their production, reception, and as objects of mediation. Together with their translation and graphic layout (text), and in the context of their presentation (iconography), these documents carry ideas of territory, rule, and relation to people, which the present project aims to highlight and analyze.

The study aimed to better understand and define the relationships between Europeans and Southeast Asian rulers often described along the simple dichotomy of superiority versus inferiority. Instead of domination, which already set the mode of interpretation, I have used negotiation and conciliation as a frame of analysis to consider the versatility of the relation. More broadly, this research intended to contribute to historical studies on intercultural communication and a larger discussion with colleagues working in the Muslim world.

• 1965-1966 in Indonesia. Remembrance and communities of memory

This book project examines various cultural productions (books, documentaries, artworks) created predominantly since 1998, delving into the mnemonic mechanisms involved in their creation and the potential triggers they activate. The study sheds light on groups, individuals, and initiatives engaged in memory work, highlighting the intricate nature of the 1965-66 mass murders’ memory as more complex than the traditional ‘official’ versus counter narrations dichotomy. By presenting private and national history, the book reveals overlaps as well as distinctions within individual and collective memory.