Dina Bangdel: Working with Communities and Archeologists to Save Nepalese Cultural Heritage
Dina Bangdel discusses heritage preservation issues in Nepal in relation to the earthquake that struck the region in 2015.
Bangdel is associate professor and director of the art history program at Virginia Commonwealth University-Qatar (VCUQatar). She is a specialist of South Asian and Himalayan art and architecture, with a particular interest in the visual cultures of Nepal and Tibet. Her work explores the intersections of ritual and sacred architecture of Buddhist South Asia in the early modern period. Bangdel’s research and outreach activities have focused on cultural studies and heritage preservation issues in Nepal, specifically in illicit trafficking and, most recently, in the context of post-earthquake reconstruction challenges in Nepal. She has served as a panelist for conferences, including the UNESCO World Heritage Serial Nomination of the Silk Roads in South Asia (2014), and the UNESCO symposium “Protecting Asia’s Heritage: Strategies for Fighting Illicit Traffic of Cultural Property and Fostering Restitutions” (2013). In addition to authoring articles and book chapters, she has been the curator of international exhibitions, including Prakriti Speaks: Contemporary Nepali Art, Kala Ghoda Museum Gallery, Mumbai (2011); Pilgrimage and Faith: Buddhism, Christianity and Islam, Rubin Museum, New York (2010); and Circle of Bliss: Buddhist Meditational Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art and Columbus Museum of Art (2003).