Conservation of Unique Information Material

Dietrich Drescher, one of the internationally most acknowledged experts in the field of Indonesian ceremonial weapons, has been regularly travelling to Indonesia since the early 60s of the 20th century. He collected manuscripts from palatial archives and had them copied and translated.  He was co-initiator of the revival of the culture of keris in Indonesia and gathered the first compilation of keris terminology. Since the 70s  an extensive photographic collection has been added to his archives. The IFICAH Foundation took over the complete archives in order to conserve this unique fond of information, and to make it available for the first time to the public and to international research on keris.

Did you know…

  • …that in Indonesia “evil” spirits are venerated as well? It is for the simple reason that there can be no good without evil, just as there can be no light without shadow.
  • …that - not only in Japan – attempts have been made for what feels like an eternity, to replace “Urushi”, the Japanese natural lacquer, by chemical substitutes? It is fortunate that so far all attempts have failed proving what a fascinatingly unique substance “Urushi” is.