Arbitrating Cultural Heritage Disputes: Theory, Practice, & Emerging Trends

Join us as we explore the growing role of arbitration in resolving art and cultural heritage disputes.

Ownership disputes, restitution claims, artist-gallery conflicts, and cultural heritage claims frequently involve parties across multiple jurisdictions, making dispute resolution particularly complex. As the international art market continues to grow, arbitration has emerged as an increasingly important mechanism for resolving these disputes outside the courtroom, offering greater confidentiality, procedural flexibility, and the ability to appoint decision-makers with specialized expertise in art and cultural heritage.

Join the Center for Art Law along with Dr Michail Risvas, Lecturer in Law and Co-Director of the Centre for International Law and Globalisation at the University of Southampton, on the growing role of arbitration in the art and cultural heritage sector. Drawing on his research and practical examples, Professor Risvas will examine how arbitration is being used to resolve a broad range of art-related and cultural heritage disputes. The program will compare arbitration with traditional litigation, exploring the advantages and limitations of each forum.

Through discussion of case examples and emerging trends, participants will gain a practical understanding of when arbitration may offer a more effective path than litigation and how alternative dispute resolution is shaping the future of art and cultural heritage law.

About the Speaker

Dr Michail Risvas is a Lecturer in Law and Co-Director of the Centre for International Law and Globalisation at the University of Southampton. His research focuses on international arbitration, cultural heritage and art law, international investment law, and public international law. He holds a PhD from the University of Oxford, where his doctoral research examined investment treaty arbitration and the law of the World Trade Organization (WTO). He is the author of Discrimination in International Investment Arbitration (Oxford University Press, 2023; updated edition, 2026), as well as numerous law journal articles and book chapters. He is admitted to the Bar in Greece and called to the Bar of England and Wales. He has acted as counsel in more than ten international commercial and investment treaty arbitrations conducted under the AAA-ICDR, ICSID, ICC, JAMS, LCIA, and UNCITRAL Rules. He also serves on arbitration panels maintained by the European Commission, OHADA, the NAI Court of Arbitration for Art (CAfA), and DIAC. Dr Risvas has contributed to international media, including the BBC, The Daily Telegraph, and The Times, on issues relating to international arbitration and cultural heritage disputes. He is the recipient of the 2025 Lalive and John Henry Merryman Fellowship at the Art-Law Centre of the University of Geneva for his article, “Arbitrating African Cultural Heritage Disputes.”