Balikan: Shared Stewardship & Ethical Returns for Philippine Collections Symposium

On October 24-25, 2025, join us for Balikan*: Shared Stewardship and Ethical Returns for Philippine Collections, a two-day symposium at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. This symposium brings together scholars, archivists, cultural heritage workers, and community activists from across the globe who are collaborating and advocating to better represent and activate Philippine collections in libraries, archives, and museums.

The central question that will be explored throughout the two-day symposium is: What are the current and future directions of shared stewardship of Philippine colonial collections? The symposium will be a space to share resources and insights, further explore and develop best practices for caring for Philippine collections across institutions, and continue building networks amongst those pursuing reparative work related to Philippine collections. Speakers will discuss their efforts to rethink and intervene in institutional practices and bring Philippine collections closer to communities by pursuing outright repatriation, knowledge sharing using digital tools, and/or shared stewardship arrangements.

The Balikan: Shared Stewardship and Ethical Returns for Philippine Collections symposium is part of ReConnect/ReCollect: Reparative Connections to Philippine Collections at the University of Michigan led by Deirdre de la Cruz and Ricky Punzalan and operating in partnership with the Inclusive History Project at the University of Michigan.

*Balikan in Tagalog means to return to something; to return for something; to return to somewhere.

Registration is not required, but encouraged. We will send out reminder emails and event updates when you register.

Balikan: Shared Stewardship & Ethical Returns for Philippine Collections is presented by the Inclusive History Project in partnership with the Asian/Pacific Islander American Studies Program, the Museum Studies Program, the Bentley Historical Library, the Clements Library, the Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design at the University of Michigan, the U-M Department of American Culture, the U-M Department of Asian Languages and Cultures, the Center for Southeast Asian Studies (CSEAS), the U-M Department of History, the University of Michigan Museum of Anthropological Archaeology (UMMAA), the University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA), and the University of Michigan Library.

The Balikan Symposium logo was designed by Jarah Bayani.

For questions or more information visit inclusivehistory.umich.edu or contact inclusivehistory@umich.edu.

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Event Schedule

Day 1
Friday, October 24

Welcome and Keynote
2:00pm – 3:45pm

Join us for the opening keynote lecture by anthropologist and ethnohistorian Oona Paredes (University of California, Los Angeles), who specializes in the study of Indigenous minorities in Southeast Asia.


Panel: Co-curation and Shared Stewardship
4:00pm – 5:30pm

This panel reflects on how co-curation and shared stewardship are interpreted and the different ways they are put into practice. The conversation explores how partnerships between communities and institutions can reshape the ways Filipino collections are cared for, interpreted, and shared. Panelists will discuss both the opportunities and challenges of building more collaborative models of stewardship, as well as the importance of making these collections accessible and meaningful to broader Filipino publics. Together, they will consider how co-curation can foster stronger connections between archives, cultural institutions, and the communities whose histories they preserve.

Panelists: Almira Astudillo Gilles and Jamie Kelly (Field Museum), Gabbie Mangaser (Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture), Analyn Salvador-Amores (University of the Philippines Baguio)


Opening Reception
5:30pm – 7:00pm

Mingle with symposium organizers and panelists over light fare during a reception following the Shared Stewardship and Co-Curation Panel.



Day 2
Saturday, October 25

Panel: Sound Returns
9:00am – 10:45am

This panel examines the power and complexity of returning historic recordings to the communities and places where they were first created. At the heart of this conversation is the question: what happens when voices, songs, rituals, and everyday sounds travel back to the homelands from where they were collected, often under colonial or extractive conditions? The panel considers how these acts of return intersect with larger movements around archival repatriation, decolonial practice, and community stewardship of cultural heritage. Panelists will share their experiences of working with Filipino communities to reintroduce historic recordings, reflecting on the opportunities for cultural revitalization, education, and intergenerational memory. They will also discuss the ethical and practical questions that accompany these efforts: how sound should be cared for and shared, who holds the authority to interpret it, and how returning sound can transform both the archive and the communities that engage with it.

Panelists: Lisa Decenteceo (University of the Philippines Center for Ethnomusicology), Grace Buenaventura (University of the Philippines Center for Ethnomusicology), Kili Piluden (Saint Mary’s School of Sagada), David Gowey (Arizona State University)


Panel: Human and Ancestral Remains
11:00am – 12:30pm

This panel sets out to reflect on the existence of human and ancestral remains in Western and colonial institutions and what obligations come with that history. The discussion will center on why and how Philippine human and ancestral remains, including funerary objects, have been collected, studied, or displayed, and the ethical questions such practices raise. Panelists will highlight current efforts and challenges to return ancestors to their communities, as well as approaches to stewardship that prioritize dignity, respect, and cultural protocols. By centering community perspectives, the panel considers how institutions can transform their practices around human and ancestral remains.

Panelists: Stephen Acabado (University of California, Los Angeles), Marlon Martin (Save the Ifugao Terraces Movement), and Francisco Datar (University of the Philippines Diliman)


Panel: Materialities and Modalities of Return
1:30pm – 3:00pm

This panel explores what it means to “return” cultural heritage using surrogates or facsimiles. Focusing on the digitization of photographs, the panel considers how digital copies circulate, what they can offer to communities, and what they cannot replace. At the center of the conversation are questions of authenticity and value: what is “original” in an age of endless reproduction, and are digital surrogates sufficient to address the absence of physical materials held in Western and colonial institutions? Panelists will reflect on both the possibilities and the limits of digital return, examining how communities engage with copies, how institutions frame these practices, and what forms of accountability and care emerge in the process. Together, the discussion will grapple with whether surrogacy can serve as restitution, or if it risks becoming a substitute for the more difficult work of returning physical collections.

Panelists: Cristina Juan (SOAS University of London), Christina Lee (Princeton University), Nicholas “Hobee” Sy (University of the Philippines Diliman), Kiri Dalena (Visual Artist, Filmmaker, and Human Rights Activist), Lucia Halder (Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum), and Lizza May David (Academy of Fine Arts Nuremberg)


Panel: Archives Remembered and Remade
3:15pm – 4:45pm

This panel investigates how artists create from, with, and against colonial archives. The panel explores how artists not only draw inspiration from archival materials but also construct their own archives, counter-curating to fill silences, challenge dominant narratives, and imagine new possibilities. Through their work, artists intervene in the ways histories are remembered and represented, becoming active participants in shared stewardship and acts of return. The discussion will highlight how creative practice can repair gaps, build connections across generations, and offer alternative ways of holding memory and history.

Panelists: Stephanie Syjuco (University of California, Berkeley), alejandro acierto (Wayne State University), LG Sebayan (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee)


Closing Keynote
4:45pm – 6:00pm
The closing keynote lecture will be given by Regalado Trota José, Chairperson of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines. For 50 years, José has researched, written, collaborated with various local and international organizations, and mentored on Philippine cultural heritage during the Spanish colonial period.