Hélène Njoto is a historian of Indonesian art and architecture. Between 2021 and 2023, she represented the École française d’Extrême-Orient (EFEO) in Jakarta. She collaborated with the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) on research concerning Islamic art and architecture in Java from the 16th to the 18th centuries. She also led a conservation project for one of the oldest mosques in Southeast Asia, located in Ambon, funded by the ALIPH Foundation.
A graduate of the University of Paris I–Sorbonne and holder of a Ph.D. from the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS, 2014), she published her dissertation with EFEO under the title Sultans bâtisseurs (Para Sultan Pembangun dan Inovasi Arsitektur di Jawa pada Awal Masa Kolonial, abad ke-16 – awal abad ke-19) in the EFEO Archaeological Memoirs series (2024). The work received several distinctions, including the Prix Flora Blanchon.
Her research explores the circulation of artistic motifs and architectural forms between the Islamic world, India, and China in Java. A member of the editorial boards of Archipel and Berkala Arkeologi, she has also led seminars at EHESS on interactions between the Islamic and Indian worlds and organized summer schools on art and archaeology in East Java (2016–2018). Her numerous publications have appeared in Archipel, BEFEO, Arts Asiatiques, and NSC Highlights.
