Dr Alda Terracciano is an artist/researcher, curator, director, and activist, who has worked with diverse communities in Britain. In 2001 she co-founded Future Histories, the first archive of African, Asian and Caribbean performing arts in the UK, and in 2010 she set up Aldaterra Projects to promote dialogue between different cultures, foster the exploration of new and hybrid artistic practices, and engage with discursive and visual representations of cross-cultural identities. Alda is the author of several articles reflecting her research interests in black and Asian theatre, community archives, visual arts, and creative public engagement. Her latest research focuses on the use of digital technologies to accelerate processes of democratisation in society. She is Co-leader of the Centre for Critical Heritage Studies, Research Fellow at the University of Sussex, and Honorary Research Fellow at University College London. In 2020 she initiated the SHIMoN network as part of her contribution to the Embracing the Archive research cluster at the Centre for Critical Heritage Studies.
Jonathan Westin is associate professor in conservation and research coordinator at the Centre for Digital Humanities at Gothenburg University. He is a cluster leader within the Centre for Critical Heritage Studies, and member of the Getty Ancient Itineraries Institute. In his research he studies how perceptions of culture are formed through representations, and how these representations become part of our cultural heritage. By focusing on the communicative aspects of culture management, archives, and reconstructions, he approaches cultural heritage as the product of both curation and engagement. He holds a Master’s degree in Ancient Archaeology.
Dr Nura Ibold is a research associate at the Centre for Heritage Conservation Studies and Technologies (KDWT) at Otto-Friedrich University Bamberg. She has extensive experience working on the recovery of heritage assets, identity politics and post-conflict rebuilding. Nura’s current project researches the intersections between place-identity and displacement, transformations of space and socio-spatial practices, migration and integration policies of the Syrian refugees in Germany. She is affiliated with ICOMOS Germany, Salzburg Global Seminar, UNESCO Expert Roster for Heritage in Syria, ArcHerNet project ‘Stunde Null’ and the International Association of World Heritage Professionals.
Marcela Jaramillo has dedicated her professional life to working with cultural heritage, mainly in contexts of armed conflict with vulnerable populations. She also has extensive experience in Intangible Cultural Heritage, Disaster Risk Management, World Heritage, and capacity building in heritage. She is a member of ICCROM's International Committee on Intangible Heritage, ICICH, and the European Commission's Expert Group on Migration. Her work experience includes countries such as Albania, Syria, Kenya, Korea, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Colombia. She holds a Master's degree in World Heritage and Cultural Projects, a Master's degree in Social Policy, and she is a Ph.D. candidate in Anthropology - Marie Curie Fellowship.
Dr Isber Sabrine holds a PhD on Cultural heritage management as well as a certified National Tourist Guide in Syria. He has been a member of the Syrian Spanish team of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) since 2005. Since 2011, Isber has been a researcher at the Institución Milá y Fontanals of the Spanish National Research Council and has been involved in projects and studies on the protection of cultural heritage during conflicts. He is currently chair and co-founder of the international NGO Heritage for Peace. Since 2015, he has been involved in cultural initiatives for refugees and immigrants in Europe. He is leading the Abuab Initiative, which is a social project that works on using cultural heritage as a tool for intercultural dialogue with refugees and immigrants from the Middle East and North Africa.
Dr Anas Al Khabour was Director of Archaeology and Museums of Raqqa Governorate, Syria from 2006 to 2008. Before the conflict in Syria he worked on several joint archaeological expeditions and from 2003 to 2008, he was the director of the National Museum of Raqqa, Syria.He worked for the Syrian Cultural Sector in Madrid between 2008-2012. Consequently, he worked as a researcher and lecturer in different European universities: University Santiago de Compostela (Spain)- Gothenburg University (Sweden)- Université Libre de Bruxelles (Belgium). He was the curator of the Ancient Middle East collection at the National Museum in Sweden. Currently, Al Khabour works for Lund University in Sweden and teaches Museum and Object-Based Learning and Cultural Heritage studies.