HaP post-doctoral researcher Monalisa Maharjan presented her paper “Constructing identity with the Chariot of Karunamaya. A case of Barahi Guthi from Patan (Nepal).” Her work, which examined aspects of placemaking in carpentry work necessary for the creation and maintenance of the Chariot of Karunamaya, was based on her recent fieldwork in the Kathmandu Valley.

On July 28, Christiane Brosius presented her work on placemaking and its infrastructures in the Kathmandu Valley as part of the ECSA2023 conference in Turin. The talk was part of a panel, 10 – Stasis and Motion in the Processional Culture of Kathmandu Valley: The Buṅgadyaḥ Yātrā Revisited, which was also convened by Christiane Brosius, alongside Manik Bajracharya and Rajan Khatiwoda.

On Friday, July 28th, Monica Mottin presented a paper at ECSAS 2023 in Turin. The paper, “The revival of Jhijhiya dance in Janakpur, Nepal,” demonstrated some of her findings from recent fieldwork in Janakpur. Her talk was part of Panel 47, Recent Cultural Heritage Initiatives in Nepal and the Himalayas, convened by Verena Widorn, Nina Mirnig, and Robin Coningham.

Binita Magaiya and Stefanie Lotter presented at the Annual Kathmandu Conference on Nepal & The Himalaya (26–28 July 2023), hosted at Social Science Baha, Kathmandu. Their presentation, which focused on their recent research at the sites of Mukundapur and Muchuck, formed part of Panel A8: “Identity and Community Formation through Discourse.” The panel was chaired by Kumud Rana, with Sanjay Sharma as the discussant.

HaP researcher Binita Magaiya presented a paper at the 2023 World Congress of Architects, which was held in Copenhagen, Denmark. Her paper examined various levels of community involvement in the reconstruction process of the iconic monument of Kasthamandap, which was destroyed in the 2015 Gorkha Earthquake in Nepal.

Dr. Pooja Kalita has presented her work on heritage infrastructures of Bodh Gaya as part of the Annual GAPS (Gesellschaft für anglophone postkoloniale Studien) Conference, which took place at the University of Konstanz from May 17–20, 2023. Her paper, “The infrastructure of 'Heritage': The Global, National and Local in Bodh Gaya,” presented her observations after six weeks of fieldwork in Bodh Gaya.

On December October 21, 2022, Dr. Monalisa Maharjan presented a paper prepared by her and Dr. Stefanie Lotter for the conference Ethnographies of Urban Data and Technology, hosted by the IT University and the University of Copenhagen in Denmark. The presentation explored the Alko Hiti water well in Patan, Kathmandu Valley, to ask how attempts to preserve the ancient heritage of water conduits intersect with local neighborhood governance and new forms of heritage activism.