Annelies Van de Ven
FNRS Post-doctoral Researcher, UCLouvain (INCAL)
Archaeological reception, Heritage and Identity studies – Museological management of contested objects
Email : vandevena1@gmail.com See my CV on Academia
Post-doc Research Project
ARTEFACT ITINERARIES. Tracing Collection Journeys Across Multiple Agents.
Postdoctoral Fellowship: FNRS UCLouvain (01/10/2020-30/09/2023).
This postdoctoral research project aims to establish an original methodology for investigating the biography of archaeological artefacts within the context of archaeology’s development as a scientific discipline. My project will tackle this challenge through the Fernand Mayence’s collections and archives at UCLouvain.
Mayence was an important figure in the development of archaeology in Belgium in the early 20th century. His personal archives and acquisitions offer a unique opportunity to study the emergence, dissemination, and transformation of cultural values over time, and how these impact the way we institutionalise the past and its material remnants.
Supervisor: Dr. Prof. Charlotte Langohr (F.R.S.-FNRS - UCLouvain, AegIS).
Education
2018 : PhD thesis in Middle Eastern Archaeology and Museology, University of Melbourne (Australia). Title of the PhD dissertation: The many faces of the Cyrus Cylinder: displaying contested objects as constellations (supervisors: Dr. Prof. Andrew Jamieson and Dr. Prof. Richard Pennell).
2013 : Master of Arts in Ancient History and Archaeology, University of St Andrews (Scotland, UK).
Research topics
I am interested in how archaeology intersects with knowledge and identity formation, both in the present and in the past. The lives of sites, monuments and sites don’t end with their deposition or abandonment; they have extensive and interesting afterlives in which their meanings are constantly changed and challenged.
Field projects
Area Supervisor and Field School Assistant for the Rabati Excavations in Georgia organized by the University of Melbourne (Directors: Dr. Prof. Andrew Jamieson and Dr. Giorgi Bedianashvili).
Choice of publications/conferences (5 max.)
Van de Ven, A. ‘Of Oil and Antiquities, of Cuneiform and Kings’, ANES, 2019, 367-383.
Van de Ven, A. & Jamieson, A. ‘Beyond Display: Curriculum and Community Engagement with Middle Eastern Collections in a University Museum’ in Museums and the Ancient Middle East: Curatorial Practice and Audiences, Emberling, G. & Petit, L. (eds.), 1st edition, London, 2018, 210-224.
Van de Ven, A. ‘Questioning the Copy: Squeezes as Subjective Interpretations in the Archaeological Record’, 31st TAG Conference, 2019, London.
Van de Ven, A. ‘The Role of Object Biographies in Museology’, ASOR Annual Meeting, 2016, San Antonio.
Van de Ven, A. ‘Education Between Artefact and Text’, Agora, 2015, 50(3): 28-37.