Introducing and Welcoming Anauene Dias Soares

Anauene Dias Soares recently arrived at UCLA to work as a visiting graduate researcher at the UCLA/Getty Interdepartmental Program in the Conservation of Cultural Heritage in partnership with the Waystation Initiative, at the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology.

Soares has a BA degree in Fine Arts from the University of São Paulo (Brazil), another BA degree in Law from the Pontifical Catholic University of Campinas (Brazil), a specialization in conservation of cultural assets from Polytechnic University of Valencia (Spain), another specialization in International Law from the International Law Center (Brazil), an MA degree in Science (Social Changes and Political Participation) from the University of São Paulo (Brazil), and is currently doing her PhD in International Relations at the University of Brasilia (Brazil). She has published books, book chapters, and manuscripts, been consultant at UNESCO, ICOM Brazil, and the Public Ministry of Minas Gerais (Brazil), and is the CEO-Founder of Anauene Art Law and Expertise.

Soares came to UCLA through the CAPES Foundation’s Sandwich Doctorate Abroad Program (PDSE), which gives her the chance to gain more international experience and establish new contacts. She also explained that this is an opportunity to access other alternative means of conflict resolution for the return of cultural heritage to their places of origin, and to consider ethical and legal aspects inherent to ethnic communities and native peoples that are not available in Brazil. She will be at UCLA until February 2025 and is excited to be part of a community “that trains students to the highest standards in the ownership, management, and interpretation of archaeological and ethnographic material, while also recognizing the existence of the illegal trade in cultural objects and colonial appropriation,” she explained.

Soares began her Ph.D. at the Institute of International Relations (IREL) from the University of Brasilia in 2021 under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Antônio Carlos Lessa. Her project aims to identify ethical conditions for the return of cultural goods to their place of origin, specifically on the participation of Indigenous communities (and their descendants) in resolving disputes over the return of Brazilian ethnographic cultural heritage. Her project also aims to identify strategies to curb state resistance to the return of ethnographic cultural material.

At UCLA, she is working primarily with Thiago Puglieri, an assistant professor in the Department of Art History and the UCLA/Getty Conservation Program, and Lyssa Stapleton, director of the Waystation Initiative. Soares explains that states in the Global South have faced great difficulties in receiving back their cultural heritage, which has been looted and misappropriated, and which is found in many foreign museums. The lack of legal protection and the differences in each country’s domestic law, as well as the fact that international treaties do not apply retroactively, are the main reasons why returns are not successful. As a result, there has been a need for community involvement, a broad network of stakeholders, and the development and dissemination of new standards for the ethical return of cultural goods.

We welcome Anauene Soares and are very happy to have her here! Those interested in learning more about her work are also welcome to contact her at anauene@anaueneartlaw.com.br.