Research

1. Academic and Research

  • Successfully organised the symposium Digital Storytelling and Mobile Tools in Cultural Heritage Preservation (16 May 2025), featuring 21 presentations including keynote, plenary talks, video screenings, and discussions. The event brought together scholars, students, and cultural practitioners for an engaging and practice-oriented exchange.
  • Dr Vikrant Kishore was nvited as a special delegate by UNESCO East Asia and the Yunnan Government to participate in a high-level project (11–14 Feb 2025) on integrating intangible cultural heritage into contemporary fashion design. Made a collabroative presentation with inputs form Dr Filippo Gilardi, and Dr Sadia Jamil, titled - Creativity, Digital Innovation, and Cultural Heritage: Engagement and Future Vision, and participated in field visits to Yi ethnic minority villages.
  • Completed and submitted the comparative research and policy report Masked Emotions: A Study of the Purulia Chhau Masks (India) and Chinese Mask Opera, funded by the Ningbo Social Sciences Base project. This work was supported by 宁波市哲学社会科学研究基地项目 (JD6-164) / Ningbo Philosophy and Social Science Research Base (JD6-164).
  • Conference paper From Villages to Virtual Spaces: Preserving Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Digital Age under publication (December 2025) in the SIBMAS Conference proceedings.
  • DHC organised the international symposium: “Understanding Caste Discrimination in Diaspora: Building Dialogues and Allyship”, on 3rd November 2025 in Melbourne, Australia. The symposium was supported by academic and community partners including Asian Media Cultures Society - Deakin University, Australia, The Humanism Project - Australia, South Asians for Inclusiveness - Australia, Periyar Ambedkar Thoughts Circle of Australia, and Hindus for Human Rights – Australia and New Zealand

2. Global Outreach and Cultural Exchange

  • Expanded DHC’s global partnerships through engagements with UNESCO, China National Silk Museum, the Gannat International Folklore Festival (France), France-China Arts Festival (Taiyuan), and Ningbo-based institutions including Yong Opera and Ningbo Museum.
  • Co-ordinated and Participated in the France-China Arts Festival in Taiyuan 2025.
  • Was invited as a special guest to present the multi-media exhibition, and film – “Chhau Dance and the Maskmakers”, at the Global Dis:connect Summer School, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany, further embedding DHC within international platforms.

3. Promotion of Digital Heritage Culture

  • Integrated digital heritage production into postgraduate teaching. Students from the Journalism module produced video stories on Ningbo’s intangible cultural heritage. Selected works were screened at the DHC symposium and received positive feedback.
  • Produced a short video commissioned by ANCM for UNESCO’s 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (2025). The video has been endorsed by UNESCO NOGO ANCM.

4. Strengthening Industry Collaborations

  • Formalised an MoU between UNNC and the Ningbo Yong Opera Research and Training Center on 16 May 2025. The agreement supports cooperation in academic research, cultural preservation, and student engagement.
  • Under the leadership of Dr Filippo Gilardi we have Initiated discussions with the Ningbo Museum to renew collaborative ties and explore future joint projects and exhibitions, with plans for follow-up meetings in the next cycle.

5. Upcoming Conference

  • Digital Futures for Cultural Heritage
    Scheduled to be held from 28-30 May 2026, this international conference explores the intersection of digital technologies and cultural heritage, focusing on how emerging tools, particularly artificial intelligence are influencing the ways in which cultural practices, sites, objects, and histories are recorded, interpreted, and shared.

    We aim to bring together scholars, practitioners, students, and institutional representatives working across museums, archives, creative industries, and communities to reflect on how digital innovation can support, not overwrite the living, contested, and context-specific nature of heritage.