With the “Hear, Here” series, we aim to facilitate conversations around new research in the humanities. Faculty fellows at the Institute for the Humanities will discuss a part of their current project in a short talk followed by a Q & A session.

About this talk:
In this talk photographic, textile, and other material archives are explored to uncover lived experiences within a nineteenth century criminal court (landraad) in colonial Indonesia. The audience is invited into a space where green tablecloths, batik sarongs, yellow umbrellas, chains, amulets, black gowns and turbans reveal semiotic richness and plurality, that urge us to consider law as not only to be found in doctrine and documents, but also in objects, bodies, and cloth.

Sanne Ravensbergen is a 2025-26 Steelcase Faculty Fellow at the Institute for the Humanities and Assistant Professor; History, International Institute.