Steelcase Faculty Fellow
About
“Fabricating Law: Materialities and Criminal Courts in Colonial Indonesia”
In this project, previously unmapped archives are explored to uncover lived experiences within a nineteenth century criminal court (landraad) in colonial Indonesia. In this colonial courtroom, green tablecloths, batik sarongs, yellow umbrellas, chains, amulets, black gowns and turbans reveal semiotic richness and plurality, Different actors were signaling different messages to multiple audiences. Photographic, textile, and other archives urge to consider how law is not only to be found in doctrine and documents, but also in objects, bodies, and cloth.
Sanne Ravensbergen is an Assistant Professor of History.
