Wednesday
26
August 2026
2:30 PM IST
Location
Room 008, Amrut Mody School of Management
Central Campus
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Conservation, Continuity, and the Ship of Theseus
Expert Talk
Samidha Pusalkar
Senior Research Associate
Bern Academy of the Arts (HKB)
Switzerland
Speaker
How do we determine whether something remains the same through processes of transformation and renewal? Taking the paradox of the Ship of Theseus as a point of departure, this talk examines alternative ontologies of conservation, continuity, and authenticity in Asian religious heritage contexts. It argues that, in many such settings, material replacement does not necessarily signal loss of identity, but can instead be part of how continuity is actively maintained through ritual, use, and collective practice. By tracing these perspectives, the talk reflects on the implications of relational and processual understandings of heritage for broader debates in conservation theory and heritage studies. It also asks what kind of heritage values are foregrounded or overlooked when conservation frameworks privilege the Western ideology of original fabric over lived continuity.
Speaker
Samidha Pusalkar
Samidha Pusalkar is a Senior Research Associate at the Bern Academy of the Arts (HKB) in Switzerland within the 'Critical Conservation' project. Her current research focuses on alternate ontologies of conservation in (South) Asian religious heritage sites, in reference to communities of practice, non-Western decolonial expertise, and transversal conservation.
She has a PhD in Preservation of Architectural Heritage from Politecnico di Milano, Italy, where her doctoral research explored context-sensitiveapproaches to conserving Buddhist heritage sites in Ladakh. Trained across history, archaeology, architecture, urban studies, and cultural heritage management, her work engages with built heritage through the lenses of intangible values, placemaking, community participation, and heritage policy. Samidha has over eight years of international experience, having worked with organisations including English Heritage and UK Government, ICOMOS, Future for Religious Heritage, INTACH, among others. She currently serves on the Scientific Advisory Committee of Future for Religious Heritage, an EU-funded organisation in Brussels. She also chairsits Young Professionals and Researchers Working Group, which she founded in December 2023.
