Diásporas Patrimoniales — International Symposium

A view from the Canary Islands on the dispersal and restitution of archaeological legacies

12–13 November 2026 · TEA, Santa Cruz de Tenerife

Part of the archaeological heritage of the Canary Islands is now held outside the archipelago. On 12 and 13 November, Tenerife will bring together museum professionals and specialists from Europe, Africa and the Americas to trace the histories of these collections and discuss the relationships that can be built today with the places from which they came.

About the symposium

From the eighteenth century onwards, archaeological objects and Indigenous human remains from the Canary Islands entered collections in mainland Spain and abroad. Some of these histories are well known; others are only beginning to be reconstructed.

Diásporas Patrimoniales grows out of the work developed by the Government of the Canary Islands through the Legado Canario Disperso programme. The symposium will bring together professionals responsible for Canarian collections abroad, specialists involved in restitution processes, and institutions reassessing the histories of their own collections.

The meeting will conclude with the Santa Cruz de Tenerife Declaration, conceived as a starting point for continuing these conversations beyond November.

Registration

The academic sessions will take place in person and require advance registration, subject to venue capacity. You may register for either day or for both. A confirmation email will be sent once the form has been completed.

Venue

TEA Tenerife Espacio de las Artes will host the academic sessions. Designed by Herzog & de Meuron together with Virgilio Gutiérrez, the building is located in central Santa Cruz de Tenerife, a short walk from MUNA.

TEA Tenerife Espacio de las Artes, Santa Cruz de Tenerife

Speakers

The symposium brings together 25 invited participants from museums, universities, heritage administrations and international organisations.

Scientific direction

The symposium is scientifically directed by Jorge Onrubia Pintado, Isaac Sastre de Diego and Jared Carballo Pérez, three archaeologists whose careers combine complementary experience in research, heritage management and cultural policy. Jorge Onrubia Pintado is an archaeologist and historian, Associate Professor of Prehistory at the University of Castilla-La Mancha, specialising in the Canary Islands and Amazigh-speaking Africa; from 2015 to 2025 he directed the Laboratory of Archaeology, Heritage and Emerging Technologies at the UCLM Institute for Regional Development. Isaac Sastre de Diego is an archaeologist and art historian with a PhD in Prehistory and Archaeology from the Autonomous University of Madrid. His professional career has encompassed archaeological research, museums and the public management of cultural heritage. Between 2021 and 2024, he held senior responsibilities at the head of the Directorate-General for Fine Arts and the Directorate-General for Cultural Heritage and Fine Arts of Spain’s Ministry of Culture. Jared Carballo Pérez is an archaeologist and bioarchaeologist, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of La Laguna with research affiliations with Leiden University and the National Autonomous University of Mexico; his work focuses on human remains, physical activity, health and mobility, as well as colonial processes and their effects on populations in the Canary Islands, North Africa and the Atlantic world.

  • Afaf Wahba — Egyptian bioarchaeologist and Director of the Bioarchaeology Department at Egypt's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities
  • Alejandra Gómez Colorado — Social anthropologist trained at Mexico's National School of Anthropology and History and specialist in Middle Eastern studies
  • Alyne Mayra Rufino dos Santos — Archaeologist and Director of the National Centre for Archaeology at Brazil's National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage (IPHAN)
  • André Delpuech — Honorary Conservateur général du patrimoine and researcher affiliated with the Centre Alexandre-Koyré (EHESS–CNRS–MNHN)
  • Armando Rangel Rivero — Doctor of Historical Sciences, Senior Researcher and Director of the Montané Anthropological Museum at the University of Havana
  • Benoît de Saint Chamas — Specialist in international cooperation and heritage at the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs and former Chief of Staff to the President of the Louvre
  • Claire Chastanier — Deputy to the Head of Collections at the Service des musées de France, within the French Ministry of Culture's Directorate-General for Heritage and Architecture
  • Conrado Rodríguez-Maffiotte Martín — Doctor of Medicine and Surgery and Director of the Canary Institute of Bioanthropology and the Archaeological Museum of Tenerife, both part of Museos de Tenerife–Cabildo de Tenerife
  • Daniel Pérez Estévez — Director of the Scientific Society El Museo Canario
  • Fátima Faria Roque — Coordinator of the Portuguese Museum Network and President of the Intergovernmental Council of the Ibermuseums Programme
  • Hamady Bocoum — Archaeologist and Director of Research at Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar
  • Hanna Pennock — Art historian and museum professional, she has worked in the Netherlands as a researcher, exhibition coordinator, curator and collections inspector
  • Jesús Robles Moreno — PhD in Ancient World Studies from the Autonomous University of Madrid and Honorary Professor in its Department of Prehistory and Archaeology
  • José Fenoll Cascales — Graduate in Art History from the University of Murcia and predoctoral researcher at the Autonomous University of Madrid
  • María Auxiliadora Llamas Márquez — Art historian and museum professional with more than twenty years of experience
  • María José Miñana — Programme Specialist in UNESCO's Movable Heritage and Museums Unit, Culture Sector
  • Matilde Arnay de la Rosa — PhD in History from the University of La Laguna and Honorary Professor at the same university
  • Mustapha Jlok — Anthropologist, heritage curator and Director of Cultural Heritage at Morocco's Ministry of Youth, Culture and Communication
  • Patricia Alonso Pajuelo — Historian and documentation specialist, museum curator since 2008 and Director of Madrid's National Museum of Anthropology since 2026
  • Patricia Ledesma Bouchán — Archaeologist specialising in Heritage Management at Mexico's National School of Anthropology and History (ENAH)
  • Raphael Callou — Political scientist and Director General for Culture at the Organization of Ibero-American States for Education, Science and Culture (OEI)
  • Rebecca Whiting — Curator: Bioarchaeology in the Department of Egypt and Sudan at the British Museum
  • Said Karboune Rodríguez — Predoctoral researcher at the University of La Laguna, where he is completing a dissertation on the construction of contemporary Canarian identity and the discourses of Canarian regionalism
  • Sarita Fuentes Villalobos — Archaeologist and Research and Bioarchaeology Analyst at the Pachacamac Museum, Ministry of Culture of Peru
  • Tobias Mörike — Historian and curator of the North Africa, West and Central Asia and Siberia collection at the Weltmuseum Wien

Programme

Each speaker will have 10 minutes. Every panel will then leave substantial time for discussion among participants and questions from the audience.

Download the programme (PDF)

Day 1 — 12 November

  • 08:45–09:30 Registration and welcome
  • 09:30–10:15 Opening session. Welcome and inauguration. Institutional participation expected from the Government of the Canary Islands, Cabildo de Tenerife, Organismo Autónomo de Museos y Centros, Museum of Nature and Archaeology, and the Scientific Committee.
  • 10:15–10:45 Coffee break
  • 10:45–12:00 Panel I. Unequal collecting and museums: histories and practices of appropriation. Chair: Jorge Onrubia. Hamady Bocoum (Former Director of the Musée des Civilisations Noires, Senegal.); Alyne Mayra Rufino dos Santos (Director, Centro Nacional de Arqueologia (CNA), Instituto do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional (IPHAN), Brazil.); Benoît de Saint Chamas (Chargé de mission for international cooperation in the field of heritage, Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, France.); Patricia Alonso Pajuelo (Director of the Museo Nacional de Antropología, Spain.)
  • 12:00–12:15 Short break
  • 12:15–13:30 Panel II. Cooperation and restitution: policies and frameworks for action. Chair: Isaac Sastre. Claire Chastanier (Deputy to the Head of Collections, Service des musées de France, Directorate-General for Heritage and Architecture, Ministry of Culture, France.); Fátima Faria Roque (President of the Intergovernmental Council of the Ibermuseums Programme and Coordinator of the Portuguese Museum Network, Museus e Monumentos de Portugal, E.P.E., Portugal.); Hanna Pennock (Senior Advisor, Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands, and co-Chair of the ICOM Standing Committee on Decolonisation, Netherlands.); María Auxiliadora Llamas Márquez (President of ICOM Spain and museum curator at the Museo de Cádiz, Spain.)
  • 13:30–15:30 Break
  • 15:30–16:45 Panel III. International experiences: Europe, Africa and Latin America. Chair: Isaac Sastre. Mustapha Jlok (Director of Cultural Heritage, Ministry of Youth, Culture and Communication – Department of Culture, Morocco.); Patricia Ledesma Bouchán (Director of the Templo Mayor Archaeological Zone and Site Museum, INAH; researcher at the Directorate of Historical Studies and lecturer at ENAH, Mexico.); María José Miñana (UNESCO Culture Sector: 1970 Convention, fight against illicit trafficking in cultural property and Virtual Museum, France.); Raphael Callou (Director General for Culture, Organization of Ibero-American States (OEI), Spain.)

Day 2 — 13 November

  • 09:30–10:45 Panel IV. The Canary Islands as a case study: displacement, partnerships and expectations of restitution. Chair: Jorge Onrubia. Armando Rangel Rivero (Director, Museo Antropológico Montané, Faculty of Biology, University of Havana; Senior Researcher, Cuba.); André Delpuech (Conservateur général du patrimoine honoraire, Centre Alexandre-Koyré (EHESS–CNRS–MNHN); former Director of the Musée de l’Homme, France.); Tobias Mörike (Curator, North Africa, West and Central Asia and Siberia Collection, Weltmuseum Wien, Austria.); Daniel Pérez Estévez (Director, Sociedad Científica El Museo Canario, Spain.)
  • 10:45–12:00 Panel V. Key trajectories and distinctive debates. Chair: Jared Carballo. Conrado Rodríguez-Maffiotte Martín (Director of the Canary Institute of Bioanthropology and the Archaeological Museum of Tenerife, Museos de Tenerife–Cabildo de Tenerife, Spain.); Alejandra Gómez Colorado (Director of the Museo Nacional de las Culturas del Mundo, INAH, Mexico.); José Fenoll Cascales (Predoctoral FPI-UAM researcher, Department of Prehistory and Archaeology, Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain.); Jesús Robles Moreno (Honorary Lecturer, Autonomous University of Madrid; Pausanias. Viajes Arqueológicos y Culturales, Spain. Co-author of the contribution presented by José Fenoll Cascales.); Said Karboune Rodríguez (Predoctoral researcher, DOCTESO Programme, University of La Laguna, Spain.)
  • 12:00–12:30 Coffee break
  • 12:30–13:45 Panel VI. Human remains and ethics: science, sensitivity and public responsibility. Chair: Jared Carballo. Matilde Arnay de la Rosa (Honorary Professor, University of La Laguna, Spain.); Afaf Wahba (Director of the Bioarchaeology Department, Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, Egypt.); Sarita Fuentes Villalobos (Bioarchaeological Research and Analysis Specialist, Pachacamac Museum, Ministry of Culture of Peru; “Mummies as Microcosms” Project, Peru.); Rebecca Whiting (Curator: Bioarchaeology, Department of Egypt and Sudan, The British Museum, United Kingdom.)
  • 13:45–15:45 Break
  • 15:45–16:30 Closing session. Reading of the “Santa Cruz de Tenerife Declaration” and institutional closing.

Contact

For questions about the symposium or registration, please write to diasporaspatrimoniales@gmail.com.