Research Interests
- Gandharan art
- Provenance and authenticity studies
- Art crime and antiquities trafficking
- Museum ethics
- Cultural heritage in South Asia
- Artisanship and replica production
- Heritage Diplomacy
- Digital humanities in art history
Education
MA, Government College University Lahore
Bio
I am a third-year doctoral student in Art History at the University of Texas at Austin. My research examines the politics of authenticity, provenance, and circulation in Gandharan art. I focus on how replicas, forgeries, and repatriated objects complicate the boundaries between ancient artifacts and modern productions, shaping both scholarship and museum practice. By tracing Gandharan objects across workshops, collections, and art markets, I highlight the entanglements of artisanship, heritage policy, and global demand. Complementing this focus, my recent co-authored chapter, “Taxila’s Cultural Legacy: Transactions between Ancient Civilisations and Modern Communities in a Gandhara City in Pakistan” (Alternative Economies of Heritage, 2025), examines how Gandhara’s heritage is mobilized within local and national contexts.
Beyond my dissertation, I am committed to heritage advocacy and institution-building. I am the co-founder of the Center for Culture and Development (C2D) and the Gandhara Resource Center Pakistan (GRCP), and have held leadership roles including Co-Chair of Antiquities Action at UT Austin (2023–2025) and Secretary of the Pakistan National Committee of the International Council of Museums (ICOM) (2018–2025), where I currently serve on the Executive Board.
My work has been supported by fellowships including the 2025 Summer Institute in Technical Studies in Art (SITSA) at the Harvard Art Museums, the MACS-CONNECT Digital Humanities Fellowship, and the URAP Digital Humanities Fellowship. These experiences inform my interdisciplinary approach, combining art historical analysis with digital methods, provenance research, and cultural heritage studies. In addition, I bring proficiency in six languages, which enables me to work with a wide range of archival, epigraphic, and textual sources.
Research Interests
- Gandharan art
- Provenance and authenticity studies
- Art crime and antiquities trafficking
- Museum ethics
- Cultural heritage in South Asia
- Artisanship and replica production
- Heritage Diplomacy
- Digital humanities in art history
Education
MA, Government College University Lahore
Bio
I am a third-year doctoral student in Art History at the University of Texas at Austin. My research examines the politics of authenticity, provenance, and circulation in Gandharan art. I focus on how replicas, forgeries, and repatriated objects complicate the boundaries between ancient artifacts and modern productions, shaping both scholarship and museum practice. By tracing Gandharan objects across workshops, collections, and art markets, I highlight the entanglements of artisanship, heritage policy, and global demand. Complementing this focus, my recent co-authored chapter, “Taxila’s Cultural Legacy: Transactions between Ancient Civilisations and Modern Communities in a Gandhara City in Pakistan” (Alternative Economies of Heritage, 2025), examines how Gandhara’s heritage is mobilized within local and national contexts.
Beyond my dissertation, I am committed to heritage advocacy and institution-building. I am the co-founder of the Center for Culture and Development (C2D) and the Gandhara Resource Center Pakistan (GRCP), and have held leadership roles including Co-Chair of Antiquities Action at UT Austin (2023–2025) and Secretary of the Pakistan National Committee of the International Council of Museums (ICOM) (2018–2025), where I currently serve on the Executive Board.
My work has been supported by fellowships including the 2025 Summer Institute in Technical Studies in Art (SITSA) at the Harvard Art Museums, the MACS-CONNECT Digital Humanities Fellowship, and the URAP Digital Humanities Fellowship. These experiences inform my interdisciplinary approach, combining art historical analysis with digital methods, provenance research, and cultural heritage studies. In addition, I bring proficiency in six languages, which enables me to work with a wide range of archival, epigraphic, and textual sources.