Longing / Belonging - Just Places
Smaller Buddha of Bamiyan (before and after), Public Domain
Date: Monday, 10 November 2025
Time: 4PM GMT (5:00 PM CET / 11:00 AM EST)
Duration: 1h 30min
Open to: Everyone
Admission: Free
Location: Online via Zoom
Zoom link: https://northwestern.zoom.us/j/93996923099
Please save the Zoom link above for direct access on the day or add the event to your Calendar: Apple / Outlook (.ics) | Google
Registration is required to confirm your attendance and receive any updates before the event. To register for the webinar, please complete the form at the bottom of this page by Sunday, 9 November 2025
ABOUT THE WEBINAR
The issue of repatriation of art and cultural objects is a timely and complex subject, with no easy resolution or reconciliation between opposing viewpoints. Why is it important for contemporary art curators to be aware of the issues surrounding the repatriation of cultural materials? The purpose of this webinar is not only to acknowledge the extensive body of arguments on both sides, but also to highlight the vital role of contemporary art curators in organizing expansive and challenging exhibitions that engage with these materials in the context of disappearing cultures, colonial histories, and restitution. This includes identifying and presenting contemporary artists whose work directly addresses these issues.
It is equally important for curators to be aware of technological innovations in the presentation of art and the challenges of representation, both physical and digital. Topics to be discussed will include digital repatriation, 3D-printed replicas, virtual museums, big data and provenance analysis, as well as the roles of generative and regenerative AI in curatorial practice.
SPEAKERS:
Christos Tsirogiannis
Head of Illicit Antiquities Research, UNESCO Chair, Ionian University and Swiss Ministry of Culture (Cambridge, UK)
Dr Christos Tsirogiannis is a forensic archaeologist specialising in research on international trafficking networks of antiquities and the antiquities trade. He has authored numerous publications on various aspects of the market, taught at several universities, and advised museums, collectors, and governments on the reform of cultural heritage law. He has worked with police, judicial, and cultural authorities worldwide, identifying more than 1,735 illicit antiquities and contributing to their repatriation to 15 countries to date.
Originally trained as an archaeologist, his specialism began with work at the Greek Ministry of Culture (1994–1998, 2000, and 2004–2008), the Greek Police Art Squad (2004–2008), and the Greek Ministry of Justice (2006–2008), with overlapping duties related to research on illicit antiquities.
Tsirogiannis is based in Cambridge (UK), where he obtained his PhD on international trafficking networks in antiquities (2013). He held a postdoctoral position at the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research, University of Glasgow (2014–2016), worked at the Cambridge Archaeological Unit (2016), and was a Research Fellow at the Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies, Aarhus University (2019–2022). He is currently the 2025 Provenance Research Fellow at the Allard Pierson Museum, University of Amsterdam.
Roshan Mishra
Director/Curator, Taragaon Next (Kathmandu, Nepal)
Roshan Mishra is one of the founding members of the Nepal Heritage Recovery Campaign (NHRC), the first non-governmental organization registered in Nepal dedicated to retrieving Nepali cultural artifacts, antiquities, and heritage items that have been lost, stolen, or taken abroad. The campaign focuses on preserving Nepal’s cultural heritage by raising awareness and actively working to repatriate these objects. Its efforts include advocacy, lobbying international organizations and governments, and collaborating with experts in cultural heritage preservation and law.
Over the past four years, the campaign has successfully repatriated nearly 100 objects from various museums and institutions worldwide and has filed claims for an additional 150 items from museums, auction houses, and other institutions.
Roshan is also the founder of the Global Nepali Museum, Nepalian Art, and an initiator behind the Mishra Museum. His educational background includes studies in Fine Arts in Nepal, Japan, and the UK, culminating in a Master’s degree in Digital Art.
Currently, Roshan Mishra serves as the Director and Curator of Taragaon Next, and he is a visual artist based in Kathmandu. Over the past decade, he has been closely associated with the museum, focusing on the development of its permanent collection, launching the Contemporary Art Gallery, educational programs, and establishing its archive and library.
(The campaign with which he is affiliated is a standalone organization, and its role, mission, and vision are independent of his responsibilities at Taragaon Next.)
Allison Fischer-Olson
Repatriation Coordinator and Curator of Native American Cultures, Fowler Museum at UCLA
Allison received a BA in Anthropology and an MA in American Indian Studies from UCLA, throughout which she explored the intersections between Museum Studies and American Indian Studies, including issues of repatriation.
After graduate school, she worked at the Fowler Museum at UCLA as Assistant Curator of Archaeology and as Project Coordinator for UCLA's Mapping Indigenous L.A. initiative. For nearly ten years, she served as Head of Research for The ONWARD Project, a digital storytelling initiative focused on a 1930s-era expedition into the American Southwest, where she worked to bring Native perspectives and voices back into histories from which they had been excluded.
During eight years in Eugene, Oregon, she served as Co-Executive Director at the Lane County History Museum and worked in collections and on NAGPRA at the University of Oregon Museum of Natural and Cultural History.
Most recently, in February 2024, Allison returned to UCLA, where she now leads NAGPRA and CalNAGPRA compliance for the UCLA campus.
Moderator
Kōan Jeff Baysa
Creative Director, iBiennaleX (Los Angeles, California, USA)
Kōan Jeff Baysa is a medical doctor researching and writing about translational and speculative medicine. He completed his medical studies as a clinical immunologist and allergist at the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center.
His main interests include:
Changing perceptions of dis-ease and dis-ability
Highlighting the confluences of medical science and contemporary cultures
Advocating for the roles of artists and the arts in social and environmental activism
He was a Curatorial Fellow with the Whitney Museum Independent Study Program. A member of AICA, IKT, and CiMAM, he has served on the boards of Art Omi and the Vera List Center for Art and Politics. He was awarded a Ford Foundation grant to survey contemporary art practices in Vietnam. He curates exhibitions and organizes events internationally, founded the Honolulu Biennial and the itinerant iBiennialeX, and co-founded the Joshua Treenial.
Before moving to a non-clinical practice to reach wider populations and address global issues, he practiced medicine in New Mexico, California, Hawai‘i, and New York, and participated in medical missions in Beirut and Bosnia. His clinic in TriBeCa, Manhattan, provided both free and low-cost care to medically uninsured artists in New York.
Registation
This webinar is open to everyone, and you do not need to be an IKT member to attend.
To register, please complete the form below by Sunday, 9 November 2025 .
Important Notice: Please be aware that the online session will be recorded. By participating in the workshop, you consent to the recording of the session, which will include audio, video, and any shared content. The recorded webinar will be published on the IKT YouTube channel and website for future reference and for the benefit of members who are unable to attend the live session.