Vereniging KITLV
The Herta Mohr Building, where the KITLV is located. Photo: Monique Shaw.
22-12-2025
In 2026, KITLV will celebrate its 175th anniversary. Much has changed in recent decades. At the previous major anniversary, 25 years ago, the Members’ Association (Vereniging) KITLV still had over a thousand members, and the Research Institute managed its own library and reading room at Reuvensplaats, a leading publishing house, and a branch in Jakarta. To commemorate that anniversary, an academic work on our history was published.
Since then, membership has declined, the Members’ Association (Vereniging) KITLV has focused more on public activities and increasingly supports publications that are not strictly academic in nature. Leiden University Libraries now manage the collection, and Brill Academic Publishers publishes our journals and books. There is more diversity among our membership, the board of the Vereniging, and the institute's staff. We strive to collaborate co-creatively within the communities and with the groups in which we are interested. We celebrate and reflect on the past quarter century with an Anniversary Seminar Series and a Public Festival on June 26, 2026, in our new home at the Witte Singel in Leiden.
Anniversary Seminar Series
In 2026, KITLV will celebrate its 175th anniversary. The Members’ Association (Vereniging) KITLV and the Research Institute are organizing an Anniversary Seminar Series to mark the occasion.
In the Anniversary Seminar Series, we invite people who have worked at KITLV in the past 25 years, visited us as fellows, or have been involved in joint research projects. Naturally, we strive to cover our wide range of disciplines, topics, and backgrounds. We invite speakers to present current or recent research to an audience of academics and others who are interested. Reflections on whether and how the connection with KITLV has led to or influenced that research are welcome. To cater to an international audience, the series will be in English and can be attended both physically and digitally.
Anniversary Public Festival
On Friday, June 26, 2026, we will open our doors and, in collaboration with Leiden University Libraries (UBL), organize a Public Festival in honor of our 175th anniversary.
The Members’ Association (Vereniging) KITLV will present the activities and publications it has supported in recent years. The Institute's researchers will creatively showcase their work, and the works produced by Atelier KITLV will be exhibited and explained. There will also be dance and spoken word. At our neighbors at the UBL, manuscripts, photographs, maps, and other objects from the KITLV Collection will be highlighted.
Our work stems from curiosity, engagement, and experience, and that's why we enjoy engaging in dialogue with communities both here and there. What does our work mean, and for whom is it important? What should we pay more attention to, and what should we be wary of? Therefore, the festival will offer ample time for reflection, conversation, and discussion, especially with people from the countries, societies, and groups with whom we (want to) collaborate and who are topics in our work.