The project "Colonial Monuments of the Dutch East Indies" aims to record knowledge about the monuments erected during the colonial period of the Dutch East Indies (until 1949, New Guinea 1962). It can be seen as a supplement to an earlier project of the KITLV, ‘Postkoloniale monumenten in Nederland’ by Oostindie, Schulte Nordholt and Steijlen. (KITLV, 2011). The idea behind the project is that these monuments provide us with a lot of knowledge about the way in which colonial society was organized and which values were considered important by the ruling elite. As a special circumstance, the vast majority of colonial monuments were destroyed during the period of Japanese occupation and subsequent struggle for independence.