[INDOLOGY] Gandhāra Corpora Lecture Series: Jessie Pons & co., Nov 20 @17.00 in-person and online

[Charles DiSimone]

Dear friends,

I am pleased to announce the second talk in the Fall 2025 iteration of the
Gandhāra Corpora Lecture Series:

Title:
*Sustaining Digital Heritage Beyond Funding: Building on the DiGA Project*

Speakers:
Prof. Jessie Pons (CERES, Ruhr-Universität Bochum)

&co.:
Serena Autiero (Thammasat University, Bangkok), Frederik Elwert (CERES,
Ruhr-Universität Bochum), Cristiano Moscatelli (Independent Researcher),
Abdul Samad (KPDOAM)

Nov 20, 2025 @ 17.00 CET

Location: Faculteitszaal, Blandijn
faculteit Letteren en Wijsbegeerte
Blandijnberg 2
9000 Gent

Abstract:
>From 2021 to 2024, the DiGA project (“Digitization of Gandharan Artefacts:
A project for the preservation and study of the Buddhist art from
Pakistan”) documented a collection of approximately 1,500 Gandharan
sculptures preserved at the Dir Museum in Chakdara, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
Province (KP), Pakistan. These sculptures originated from a dozen
archaeological sites in the Shah-kot/Talash zone (around present-day
Chakdara), excavated by the Directorate of Archaeology and Museums, KP, and
the Department of Archaeology at Peshawar University in the 1960s and
1970s. As one of the few Gandharan sculptural corpora with established
archaeological provenance, this collection provides a solid foundation for
reassessing key questions in Gandhara studies, particularly regarding the
history of Buddhism on the right bank of Swat River. The database of the
collection is now available on the heidICON platform, ready to lend itself
to exciting research avenues.

With the project officially coming to an end, however, new questions
emerge: how can such a project remain active and relevant beyond its
institutional and financial framework? How can its data continue to be
curated, enriched, and mobilized for research and public engagement once
the funding period ends? This presentation will report some of the
project’s activities in the post-funding phase. It will share results from
recent research based on the DiGA corpus, sketch the outline of a research
program building on the project’s legacy, and discuss ongoing initiatives
with KPDOAM on community engagement. Ultimately, this talk invites
reflection on the broader question of how digital heritage projects can
evolve sustainably once their formal lifecycle has ended.

Bios:
Jessie Pons (CERES, Ruhr-Universität Bochum):
Jessie Pons is Professor for the History of South Asian Religions at the
Center for Religions Studies at Ruhr-Universität Bochum. Trained as an art
historian, Jessie Pons explores how religion and art intersect and how
material objects shape religious communication, lived experiences, and
scholarly interpretation.

Serena Autiero (Thammasat University, Bangkok):
Serena Autiero is an archaeologist and material culture historian. She is
currently a researcher at Thammasat University. Her research interests
include cultural exchange in Afroeurasia in pre-modern times, globalization
studies, and a special focus on the Indian Ocean World. She authored
several publications in international journals and co-edited Globalization
and Transculturality from Antiquity to the Pre-Modern World for Routledge.

Frederik Elwert (CERES, Ruhr-Universität Bochum):
Frederik Elwert is associate professor at the Center for Religious Studies,
Ruhr University Bochum. His background is in religious studies and
sociology. He has applied digital humanities methodologies in different
areas of the study of religions.

Cristiano Moscatelli (Independent Researcher):
Cristiano Moscatelli specialises in Gandharan studies. His research
interests focus on Buddhist visual and material culture and on the
interactions between Buddhism and local religious systems in the ancient
north-western Indian subcontinent. In addition to his work with DiGA, he
was a research fellow with the eartHeritage project – A cultural rescue
initiative for earthen heritage, investigating clay and stucco Buddhist
sculpture from Central Asia through the development of a digital database
for the collection, preservation, and dissemination of archaeological data.

Abdul Samad (KPDOAM):
Abdul Samad is Secretary of Tourism, Culture, Archaeology and Museums,
Government of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Pakistan as well as Director General
of Archaeology & Museums KP. He has two decades of experience in South
Asian archaeology, history, and culture, extensively exploring Pakistan’s
rich heritage, focusing particularly on the Gandhara and Kalash
civilizations. As the Director of the Directorate of Archaeology and
Museums in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, he has led numerous initiatives to preserve
and promote the cultural legacy of KP through national and international
Projects.

All are welcome. The Gandhāra Corpora Lecture Series is in-person and
hybrid online. Please register for the series through this Google Form:
https://forms.gle/TwffQCPuVipUpMvk6

Friendly Greetings,
Charles DiSimone

Prof. Dr. Charles DiSimone
Associate Professor of Buddhist Studies & Indology
Department of Languages and Cultures
Ghent University
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