Koninklijk Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen

The Koninklijk Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen (Royal Batavian Society for Arts and Science) was founded in 1778. It set itself the task to promote (fine) art and science in the former Dutch East Indies. For long, the Bataviaasch Genootschap decided whether collected objects were kept in Indonesia or send to the Netherlands. In 1962, the collection of the Bataviaasch Genootschap subsumed in the National Museum of Indonesia.

Description

The Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen was founded in 1778. So the society endured several colonial administrations, the VOC, the French period, the British interregnum and finally the Kingdom of the Netherlands. In 1950, after Indonesian independence, the name of the society was changed to Lembaga Kebudajaan Indonesia, the Indonesian Cultural Institute. In 1962, the institute ceased to exist and its collection was incorporated into the National Museum of Indonesia, which still resides in the building where the Bataviaasch Genootschap moved to in 1867. The society's members mainly came from the upper echelons of the colonial administration in the former Dutch East Indies, so there were maintained close connections with the colonial authorities. There was also frequent contact with similar societies in the Netherlands and with Dutch museums and scientists. In this way, the Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen developed into a pivotal figure in the cultural and scientific field within the Dutch East Indies.

The aim of the Bataviaasch Genootschap was to promote the arts and sciences in the former Dutch East Indies, and in the early years of the society the focus was mainly on publishing scientific treatises on the territories colonised by the Netherlands in the Indonesian archipelago. Collecting objects was not yet a priority at that time. Besides the collection of objects handed down by the first president, Jacobus Radermacher, objects were only sparsely added to the ‘cabinet’, as the Society's museum was then called. It is only from 1835 onwards that the emphasis is increasingly placed on collecting various objects. Initially, the focus was on natural objects, but later more and more ethnological and archaeological objects were added to the collection. In 1843, it was even decided to transfer the natural history collection of the society to the Museum of Natural History in Leiden. Around the same time, a government decree stipulated that objects of archaeological value could no longer simply be shipped to the Netherlands. In 1858, that policy was tightened, causing the Bataviaasch Genootschap to act as custodian of collections obtained, whether or not as spoils of war, by the Dutch East Indies government. The collection of the Bataviaasch Genootschap thus increasingly took on the form of a museum.

From 1878 onwards, it was obligatory for Dutch officials that all the objects they collected should first be sent to the Bataviaasch Genootschap, where a selection was made what was to be sent to the Netherlands and what was to be kept in Indonesia. This is the reason, for instance, that part of the so-called 'Lombok treasure', captured by the Royal Dutch East Indies Army during the Lombok War at the end of the nineteenth century, was included in the collection of the Bataviaasch Genootschap.

As of 1779, the Bataviaasch Genootschap published scientific findings in Verhandelingen van het Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen, which was published on a regular basis and, from 1838, published by the society itself. In 1853, the society also founded the journal Tijdschrift voor Indische taal- land- en volkenkunde.The minutes of the society were also published since that time, in which often interesting information about the objects that were acquired can be found.

Herkomstonderzoek

The collection of the Bataviaasch Genootschap was incorporated into the collection of the National Museum of Indonesia, Museum Nasional Indonesia, after the disbanding of the society in 1962. The society's archive is accessible through the Arsip Nasional Republik Indonesia, the National Archives of Indonesia. The inventory can be downloaded from the website and accessed by searching for 'Bataviaasch Genootschap', the inventory is in Bahasa Indonesia.

As described, the minutes of the Bataviaasch Genootschap contain much information about objects offered and acquired by the society. The minutes from 1864 to 1922 are available through the University Library of Leiden University. Hans Groot's book Van Batavia naar Weltevreden also contains several detailed descriptions of objects acquired by the Bataviaasch Genootschap.

Resources

• Verhandelingen van het Bataviaasch Genootschap der Kunsten en Wetenschappen
  The journal published by the Bataviaasch Genootschap from 1779 onwards. Many editions can be found through the Biodiversity Heritage Library website. — https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/7371
• Notulen van de Algemeene en Directie-vergaderingen van het Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen
  Minutes of meetings of the Bataviaasch Genootschap published from the 1850s onwards. Those from 1864 to 1922 are available through the University Library of Leiden University. — http://hdl.handle.net/1887.1/item:1112865
• K 75. Inventaris Arsip Tekstual Koninklijk Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen (KBG) (1778-1962)
  The archive of the Bataviaasch Genootschap is located at the ANRI in Jakarta. The inventory of the archive can be downloaded from the ANRI's website (in Indonesian). — https://anri.go.id/
• Tijdschrift voor Indische taal- land- en volkenkunde
  Journal published by the Bataviaasch Genootschap. Several editions are available through the KITLV. Other sources related to the Bataviaasch Genootschap can also be found on the listed web page. — https://kitlv-docs.library.leiden.edu/open/Metamorfoze/TBG/tbg.html
• Groot, Hans. Van Batavia naar Weltevreden: Het Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen, 1778-1867. Amsterdam: Brill, 2009
  Book by Hans Groot with a comprehensive description of the Bataviaasch Genootschap from its foundation to 1867. Also contains a lot of information on acquired collections and specific members of the society. — http://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/34657