A new collaboration between the Netherlands and Indonesia was officially launched this morning with a special ceremony at the National Archives of Indonesia (ANRI) headquarters in Jakarta. The event marked the beginning of an exciting project focused on preserving and digitizing historical archives, aimed at making valuable documents more accessible to researchers.

The ceremony was attended by prominent figures, including Kanjeng Gusti Pangeran Adipati Arya Mangkunegara X, the newly appointed Director General of ANRI, Mr. Mego Pinandito, and our Deputy Head of Mission, Adriaan Palm.

From February 17th to 21st, experts from the Dutch National Archive are running a workshop at ANRI, training staff on how to restore and protect documents during the digitization process. This is a significant step forward in the effort to make the VOC Notarial Archive—currently held by ANRI—available online, allowing researchers to access it faster and more easily.

In addition to the VOC archive, the same conservation methods will be applied to the Domestic Administration archive. Though in better condition than the VOC documents, this archive remains an important part of the project.

The collaboration came about after ANRI requested training to prepare for two major digitization projects. From February 24th to 28th, employees from the Mangkunegaran Palace archives in Solo will also receive training from the Dutch National Archive.

A major milestone in the partnership was achieved during the ceremony when the Dutch National Archive handed over a hard drive containing scanned documents from the General Secretariat of the Dutch East Indies Government (1922-1950). This marks a significant step in the ongoing effort to preserve and digitize Indonesia's historical archives for future generations.