East Java · Indonesia
Banyuwangi
Local manuscript traditions preserved at the eastern tip of Java.
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Digital Repository · Southeast Asia
Safeguarding the manuscripts of Southeast Asia.
DREAMSEA preserves the content of endangered and affected manuscripts across the region — and makes them fully and openly accessible online.
About the Programme
A regional effort to preserve a shared written heritage.
The Digital Repository of Endangered and Affected Manuscripts in Southeast Asia strives to preserve manuscript content across the entire region and make it openly accessible online.
Run by PPIM, UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta, with CSMC, University of Hamburg.
Presented with the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library and supported by Arcadia.
Focused on manuscripts that are endangered or affected by their conditions.
Manuscript Collections
Digitisation missions across the region
Rescue missions carried out between 2018 and 2023 have safeguarded collections from communities throughout Southeast Asia.
South Sulawesi · Indonesia
Makassar
Lontara-script works documenting Bugis–Makassar literary culture.
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Luang Prabang · Laos
Luang Prabang
Palm-leaf manuscripts from one of the region's great heritage cities.
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South Sumatra · Indonesia
Palembang
Malay-Islamic manuscripts from the historic Sumatran sultanate.
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West Java · Indonesia
Bandung
Sundanese folios spanning religion, custom and daily record.
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South Sulawesi · Indonesia
Bantaeng
Manuscripts read right-to-left in a distinctive Lontara tradition.
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Stories from the field
Narratives uncovered during digitisation missions
Priceless experiences worth sharing — especially with those passionate about preserving cultural heritage.
West Java
Ancestral counsel in the Madrais manuscripts
Folios written during the Dutch colonial era later became court evidence in a customary-forest land dispute.
Read the story
South Sulawesi
A memory of Chinese–Makassar closeness
DREAMSEA digitised 500 bundles from a 2,000-manuscript corpus of Peranakan writing in the Lontara script.
Read the story
Impact to date
Preservation, measured
Indicative figures from missions across the region. Final numbers to be confirmed with the DREAMSEA team.
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Mission locations
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Folios digitised
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Countries reached
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Of preservation
Partners & supporters
Delivered in collaboration
PPIM UIN Jakarta
Center for the Study of Islam and Society — programme lead
CSMC Hamburg
Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures, University of Hamburg
HMML
Hill Museum & Manuscript Library — repository partner
Arcadia
Charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing & Peter Baldwin
Explore the open-access repository.
Thousands of digitised folios from across Southeast Asia — freely available for researchers, communities and the curious.