Heritage and History in South Asia (2 day conference co-organised by SOAS and Presidency University)

Heritage and History in South Asia

Co-organised by Presidency University and School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London

February 20-21, 2017

Day 1 (Venue: A.K. Basak Auditorium, Main Building)

10.30-10.45 a.m.: Opening remarks

Processes and Politics of Conservation ( 10.45-12.45 p.m.)

‘Concrete and Non-Concrete Plans in the Reconstruction of Lost Tangible Heritage in Nepal’

- Stephanie Lotter (SOAS, London)

‘Whose heritage? The 2015 Nepal Earthquakes and the Dharhara Tower’

- Michael Hutt (SOAS, London)

‘The conservation of historical havelis in Shahjahanabad’

- Sylvie Dominique (Delhi University)

Lunch: 12.45-2

Heritage and Urban Space ( 2-4 p.m.)

‘Deciding the 'market value' for land: the Bombay Improvement Trust, eminent domain and the reshaping of urban property in early twentieth century Bombay’

- Shabnum Tejani (SOAS, London)

‘‘Heritage’ and Equity Principles; A case of Ahmedabad’

- Jigna Desai (CEPT University, Ahmedabad)

‘An Ambiguous Relationship: The Nation and the Urban in Colonial India’

- Kaustubh Mani Sengupta (Bankura University, West Bengal)

Tea

Day 2: 21.2.17 (Venue: A.K. Basak auditorium, Main Building)

Narratives, Traditions, Localities ( 10.30 a.m.-12.30 noon)

‘Stories- Powerful Cultural Link’

- Manjiri Thakoor (National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai)

‘Locating Gender, Identity and Human Rights of the Artisans of Nanoor and Pingla in West Bengal, India’

- Lopamudra Sengupta (Bangabasi College, Kolkata)

‘To Keep or Not to Keep: The Cultural Heritage of Vishnupur’

- Nirmalya Guha (Manipal University, Karnataka)

Lunch : 12.30-1.30 p.m.

Artefacts and Identities ( 1.30-2.45 p.m.)

‘Transformation of Tangibles into Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Santals of Jungle Mahals, India: A Critique of Indigenous Politics’

- Amit Kisku (Vidyasagar University, West Bengal)

‘The Body and the Text: Of Xuanzang and other Relics’

- Sraman Mukherjee (Nalanda University, Bihar)

Tea: 2.45-3

Cultural Memory-Making ( 3-5 p.m.)

‘Privileges of Caste Heritage: A Study of Syrian Christian Identity Constructions in Kerala’

- Reju Matthew (MIT, Academy of Engineering, Pune)

‘Heritage and Identity: The concept of inheritance for an Indian trading community’

- Divya Sethi (Delhi University)

‘Heritage in the making: Popular Islam and subaltern struggles for space and spiritual/material authority at shrines in Punjab’

- Navtej Purewal (SOAS, London)