DREAMSEA Project

The DREAMSEA Project (Digital Repository of Endangered and Affected Manuscripts in Southeast Asia) brings together digital images of Buddhist and Islamic manuscripts located across Southeast Asia. The manuscripts are written on palm-leaf, bark paper, and paper in a variety of languages and scripts.

The variety of materials, texts, and languages in these manuscripts demonstrates the cultural and religious diversity of the region. For example, the collection includes images of manuscripts located in La Ode Zaenu (Bau-Bau, Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia), Paseban Tri Panca Tunggal (Kuningan, Jawa Barat, Indonesia), and Vat Maha That Rasabovoravihan (Luang Prabang, Laos), and many others. The DREAMSEA project, much like HMML, aims to preserve manuscript heritage that is at risk of natural disasters, environmental conditions, and conflict.

Including collections from Indonesia, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, and Vietnam, the DREAMSEA repository includes cataloging by the DREAMSEA team with system support from HMML.

A 19th-century bark paper manuscript on Islamic jurisprudence, written in Arabic. Photographed in Kuningan (Jawa Barat), Indonesia. (DREAMSEA project number DS 0015 00001)

The project, supported by Arcadia, is carried out by the Center for the Study of Islam and Society (PPIM) at Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta State Islamic University (UIN) in Jakarta, Indonesia, in cooperation with the Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures (CSMC) at the University of Hamburg, Germany.

A 20th-century Buddhist palm-leaf manuscript on the protective meditations of Caturārakkhā (ຈະຕຸຣາຣັກຂາ), written in Pali. Photographed in Luang Prabang, Laos. (DREAMSEA project number DS 0011 00224)