A lecturer from the Department of Communication Science, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Universitas Brawijaya, Desi Dwi Prianti was invited to be a speaker at the EUROPAST Mid-Project Conference. Desi was the only speaker from Asia in Luxembourg, last June.
At the event titled Public History and Community-Based Research”, Desi presented her research entitled “Empowering Narratives, Decolonizing Histories: Visual Methodologies in Community-Based Research on Indonesian Public History.”
This conference is a collaboration between the Leibniz Centre for Contemporary History (ZZF) Potsdam, Lund University, University of Luxembourg, and Vilnius University. The event was attended by academics from various disciplines such as history, architecture, art, sociology, politics, and communication, who discussed the importance of democratic practices in communicating more inclusive and just history.
In her presentation, Desi introduced the research project that she has been working on since 2021. She focuses on the use of visual communication methodology to communicate more empowering and gender-friendly historical narratives, especially for former colonial societies such as Indonesia. “This presentation is in line with the main theme of the conference which carries the spirit of inclusive historical communication and prioritizes social justice,” she explained.
One of the important reasons for inviting Desi to this conference was the in-depth discussion on best practices from former Soviet Union countries which were the main focus. However, Desi’s presence provides a new perspective on decolonization strategies from a non-Western perspective, especially from Indonesia. “In the Q&A session, many audience members admitted that this was the first time they had heard about Indonesia and the strategy of decolonizing knowledge from non-Western postcolonial academics,” she explained via text message.
On this occasion, Desi also introduced Universitas Brawijaya to conference participants as part of her academic mission. “This conference is not only an important platform for Desi to introduce Universitas Brawijaya but also to share her views and research results, which open the insights of international academics to the challenges and strategies of decolonization from Asia, especially Indonesia,” concluded the lecturer who graduated from the Netherlands. (DDP/VQ/UB PR/ Trans. Iir)
