What is “decolonial methodology” and why is it important in understanding historical events and narratives?

Join the Workshop

Learn from student curator Diyanah Nasuha as she walks us through our ongoing exhibition Mat Salleh (Meng-)amok: Uncovering Indigenous Resistance in the Scramble for Borneo, and gain insights on how she used decolonial theories and methodologies to explore the Mat Salleh Rebellion (1895 to 1903). You’ll also hear from our librarians, who will share more about the basics of the methodology! If you haven’t seen the display yet, take this chance to visit us at Central Library’s Singapore-Malaysia Collection and find out more about the next iteration of Decolonial Dialogues - a chance for you to propose and share your own work with the campus community!

Curate Your Own Exhibition

If you’re excited about curating and contributing to meaningful discussions, we want to hear from you! Work with our rare collection of colonial-era materials and/or Singapore-Malaysia collection, and create an exhibition, along with a workshop and talk, on a topic of your own choice. Take this chance to explore and reflect on our campus’ critical and decolonial ethos! More details coming soon.

Organised as part of our Decolonial Dialogues series, our exhibitions and programmes encourage the campus community to critically engage with our libraries’ resources and rethink historical narratives influenced by colonial perspectives.

Proposal Submission Documents

In our inaugural Decolonial Dialogues exhibition, Mat Salleh (Meng-)amok: Uncovering Indigenous Resistance in the Scramble for Borneo, Student Curator Diyanah Nasuha interrogates the contested terrains of resistance and power that erupted into the Mat Salleh Rebellion (1895 to 1903). How might we (re)read the figure of Datu Mohammed Salleh bin Datu Balu, who spearheaded the indigenous resistance against the imposition of poll-tax by the British North Borneo Chartered Company administration, beyond his monolithic portrayals as anti-colonial rebel or Malaysia’s fallen national hero? Delve into the insidious depths of the British colonial administration's imperial conquest, which went further than mere physical violence and territorial acquisition from the Brunei and Sulu Sultanates. On display is a small selection of materials that provide a glimpse into the British Empire’s epistemic violence of knowledge production and control—a mechanism that perpetuated colonial hegemony, and more.