Padang – In a recent workshop organized by Dreamsea, Hadi Rahman, the Program Coordinator, emphasized the vital role of preserving Malay manuscripts as essential components of cultural heritage. The event brought together scholars, students, and manuscript owners to discuss the significance of these texts and the initiatives in place to safeguard them. Rahman highlighted that Malay manuscripts serve as important sources of knowledge about the history, culture, and traditions of Southeast Asia. He pointed out that these manuscripts are not merely artifacts; they reflect the region’s rich intellectual heritage. The Dreamsea program is dedicated to digitizing and documenting rare manuscripts, […]

Padang, West Sumatra – After successfully digitizing over half a million pages of manuscripts across Southeast Asia, the Center for Islamic and Community Studies (PPIM) at UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta, through its project Digital Repository of Endangered and Affected Manuscripts in Southeast Asia (Dreamsea), collaborated with the Library Unit of Andalas University and the SURI Minangkabau Institute to host a campus workshop titled “Exploring Research Opportunities in Digital Malay Manuscripts.” The event took place at the Andalas University Library on Wednesday, September 18, 2024. The workshop featured speakers from diverse backgrounds, including manuscript owners, academics, and representatives from government institutions […]

Phan Rang-Tháp Chàm, Vietnam – Dreamsea (Digital Repository of Endangered and Affected Manuscripts in Southeast Asia), a program managed by the Center for Islamic and Community Studies (PPIM) at UIN Jakarta, in collaboration with the Cham Cultural Research Center, successfully held a workshop themed “Southeast Asian Manuscript Digitization” in Phan Rang-Tháp Chàm, Vietnam, on August 21-22, 2024. This workshop served as an important platform for academics, researchers, and cultural practitioners from various Southeast Asian countries to deepen their knowledge of manuscript digitization and preserve endangered cultural heritage. Southeast Asia is known for its rich manuscript heritage with significant historical, literary, […]

Jakarta, August 8, 2024 — In a historic move, DREAMSEA (Digital Repository Endangered and Affected Manuscripts in Southeast Asia) has presented a digital grant of ancient manuscripts to the National Library of the Republic of Indonesia (Perpusnas). This preservation program is the result of a collaboration between the Center for the Study of Islam and Society (PPIM) at UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta and the Centre for the Study of Manuscript Culture (CSMC) at the University of Hamburg, Germany, aimed at saving endangered cultural heritage in Southeast Asia. The grant presentation event took place at the Perpusnas building, themed “Working Together […]

DREAMSEA, Jember – The DREAMSEA manuscript digitization team has completed a preservation mission in Jember, East Java, Indonesia. In this mission, a collection of manuscripts was obtained, which generally contained Islamic texts. There were two manuscripts that are quite eye-catching in this mission in Jember. The first is a manuscript of the Quran illuminated with beautiful colorful ornaments. Second, manuscripts with Javanese script and Middle-Javanese language which uses interlinear translations of Javanese and Madurese languages. The team is led by Fiqru Mafar with other team members, namely Rahmatia as a photographer, Tifa as an assistant academic expert, and Hanafi as […]

The DREAMSEA programme has successfully digitised thousands of ancient handwritten manuscripts left by the Habaib, who lived hundreds of years ago, at the Jamiat Kheir Educational Foundation in Indonesia. The manuscripts contain studies of religious sciences, science, astronomy, and even metaphysics. The effort to save these ancient manuscripts resulted in at least 5,000 pages being digitised. Umar Alhaddad, Chairman of the Jamiat Kheir Foundation, stated that “there are around 5,000 pages of ancient manuscripts written in Arabic and Arabic script. Some were written on imported European paper. Their contents are very diverse, ranging from the world of education to historical […]

DREAMSEA, Garut – DREAMSEA has preserved two collections of manuscripts from Garut regency, West Java, Indonesia. This activity has been carried out on July 26-28, 2022. The manuscripts that have been successfully digitized include Islamic texts of Sufism, genealogy, and local history. The digitization team this time was led by Aditia Gunawan as an academic expert, Salfia Rahmawati as an assistant academic expert, Benedictus Satrio as a photographer, and Evi Fuji as an assistant photographer. In this mission, the Dreamsea team successfully carried out the digital preservation of two manuscript collections. The first collection belongs to Ani Suhartini who is […]

A number of ancient manuscripts at Pesantren Tebuireng in Jombang, East Java have been preserved through digitization. The knowledge and Islamic thought within the manuscripts can serve as a reference for contemporary knowledge. The digitalization process was carried out by the Digital Repository of Endangered and Affected Manuscripts in Southeast Asia (DREAMSEA) program, which is a collaboration between the Center for the Study of Islam and Society (PPIM) at Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University (UIN) in Jakarta and Pesantren Tebuireng. The pesantren was founded by KH Hasyim Asy’ari, the founder of the Nahdlatul Ulama organization. According to Oman Fathurahman, a […]

DREAMSEA, Gianyar – The DREAMSEA digitisation team managed to save 68 palm-leaf manuscript bundles with a total of more than 2,000 digital images obtained. This collection of manuscripts is owned by I Wayan Wandra who is one of the traditional leaders in the village of Sukawati. This digitisation was carried out on April 14-20 2002 led by I Gede Gita Purnama A.P. (Academic Expert) with team members namely Ida Bagus Ari Wijaya (Assistant of Academic Expert), Tedi Permadi (Photographer), and Dewa Ayu Carma Citrawati (Assistant Photographer). The condition of the manuscript is poorly maintained and stored in a wooden crate […]

DREAMSEA, Padang – On this manuscript preservation mission in West Sumatra, Indonesia, DREAMSEA visited three regions that have hundreds of ancient manuscripts. The three regions are Padang, Pesisir Selatan and Tarusan. The mission was carried out from 11 February-17 March 2022 in collaboration with the Manassa of Padang led by Dr. Pramono. 351 bundles of the manuscript were preserved from three different collections, namely the Chairul collection (102 manuscripts), Rakena collection (18 manuscripts), and Achmad Kosasih collection (231 manuscripts). The total digital images produced are more than 27,000 pages. Most of the manuscripts are written on paper in Arabic, Malay, […]