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Celestial Art Law: Zoom Out There

April 17, 2024

About the Event

The Center for Art Law discussed art beyond Earth and focused on celestial art law with our panelists, Dr. Marlène Michèle Losier, Principal, Legal Expert in International Law, Nahum Romero, Artist & Founding Director, KOSMICA Institute and Arno Green, founder and curator of The Astronautical Art Initiative and co-founder of The Spacecraft Agency. Moderated by Irina Tarsis, this session illuminated the legal, scientific, and technical complexities surrounding art in outer space.

The webinar provided insights into the rules, regulations, and laws governing the deployment and retrieval of art in space. From the legal frameworks established for sending art into space to the liability issues arising upon its return to Earth, our speakers provided a comprehensive overview of the legal landscape shaping celestial art.

The session also covered the world of art on celestial bodies, including the moon, and examined the unique legal and technical challenges inherent in such endeavors. The discussion covered free-floating art in interstellar space, exploring the intangible aspect of artworks, and the legal implications of art traveling through the cosmos. From space traffic management to debris concerns, our panelists shed light on the regulatory gaps and challenges posed by this uncharted frontier.

About the Speakers

Dr. Marlène Michèle Losier

Dr. Marlène M. Losier is a legal expert in international law. She advises private and public clients on international and national laws relating to culture and space policies affected by maritime, terrestrial and beyond Earth considerations often resulting from the succession of states in the post-colonial context. She advises on the United Nations treaty system and its auspices, counsels on bilateral and multilateral agreements and assists in developing corresponding domestic rules. Dr. Losier is an expert in complex matters of sovereign immunity and jurisdiction, where they conflict, when they are evoked in areas beyond national jurisdiction and specifically in respect to issues relating to title and proprietary rights under international law. Her academic background is in government and social anthropology and her legal basis is in international litigation, alternative disputes resolution and contractual matters. She is Principal of Losier & González, PLLC based in Washington, D.C. She is also Director and Chair of the International Space Law Committee of IAF Member Organization Space Renaissance International, Inc., as well as Lead Heritage Counsel for IAF Member Organization For All Moonkind, Inc.

Nahum Romero

Nahum has worked on various space missions for artistic purposes with the major space agencies including NASA, ESA, Roscosmos and SpaceX. He is the first artist to launch an interactive artwork into outer space in 2018. Nahum has served as the Chair for the Committee for the Cultural Utilisation of Space (ITACCUS), at the International Astronautical Federation (IAF) in Paris. In 2014, he was the first artist to be awarded the title of Young Space Leader for his unique cultural contributions to astronautics and space exploration. He is the Founding Director of KOSMICA, a global institute founded in 2011 with the mission to establish a platform for critical, cultural and poetic discourse on our relationship with outer space, space exploration and the impact of these activities here on Earth. The Institute develops initiatives that bridge art and humanities, the space sector and wider society. Nahum received a B.Sc. in Computer Science from Tec de Monterrey in Mexico City and graduated with a distinction from a Master of Arts at Goldsmiths, University of London in 2008. He coursed the Space Studies Programme at the International Space University in Strasbourg, France and Haifa, Israel in 2016 where he currently lectures to future astronauts and space professionals.

Arno Geens

Arno is a Belgian multiversal creative explorer. He is the founder and curator of The Astronautical Art Initiative and co-founder of The Spacecraft Agency: two organisations dedicated to creating and curating art programs in outer space to actively engage artists and the public in the development of space exploration. His current research interests lie in the history, current practice and collective imaginaries of artistic artefacts in the extraterrestrial space environment.

He previously worked as a visiting researcher and visual strategist at NASA JPL where he helped scientists and engineers imagine the future and give people an sense of awe about the universe. He was the media lead at the Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC) and vice-president of the European Young Innovators Forum (EYIF): a non-profit organisation fostering youth innovation.

In addition to this, he was a program director, lecturer and researcher on design and new media technologies, and ran a human-driven creative agency and experimental art gallery. He enjoys helping individuals uncover moments of awe and wonder, nurturing their curiosity, inspiring them to dream, and empowering them to bring their ideas to life.

Currently, Arno serves as the co-chair of the Space Renaissance International Academy’s Art Chapter and on the program committee of the ‘School of Thinking’ – CLEA Center for Transdisciplinary Research at the Free University of Brussels. He holds an MA in Graphic Design, an MSc in Space Studies, and a PG in Philosophy and Cognitive Science. He is an alumnus of the US Department of State International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP), an artist member of the International Association of Astronomical Artists (IAAA), a fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts (FRSA), and has been honored for his contributions to the Red Cross. He has been passionate about space ever since he was awestruck by the Pillars of Creation as a kid.