About us
The research group Histories of Art, Architecture and Visual Culture (VISU) offers a platform for fundamental research on the history and theory of art, architecture and visual culture from the early modern period up to the present. We study not only the artistic and architectural practice, the material object and the spatial environment, but also the broader cultural, historical and societal context, which often relates to current themes such as new media, visualisation of conflict and war, urbanisation, sustainability, multiculturality and globalisation. Key questions concern the circulation of images, artefacts, practices and knowledge across boundaries. These cross-overs are understood as mutual interactions between the different arts and as exchanges between different cultures, traditions, regions or periods.
Recent News
The sculpture garden of the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium: issues of outdoor sculpture in a metropolitan environment
VISU member prof. Katarzyna Ruchel-Stockmans is a guest speaker at the webinar series "Musées d’art en plein air / Sculpture Parks" on 10 December, 2024. This webinar is co-organized and moderated by VISU member prof. Francisca Vandepitte.
Remediating photography in community archives and the question of epistemic reparations
VISU member Katarzyna Ruchel-Stockmans and student Zoë Kennis (Talent for Research Program) will be presenting their research at the Intermedial Networks -- The Digital Present and Beyond, organized from 23-25 October 2024, and taking place at Linnaeus University in Växjö.
Origin of famous Veere cup discovered by Hanne Schonkeren
VISU member Hanne Schonkeren discovered that the famous sixteenth-century ornamental cup, preserved in the city hall of Veere, was made in Antwerp.
Events
Practical info-Reading and conversation: "That I Should Report on These Things", with award-winning German-Jewish author Esther Dischereit
The Vrije Universiteit Brussel invites you to a reading and discussion with German award-winning writer Esther Dischereit as part of the new lecture series ‘Ties That Bind Us’.
Practical info-Public Defence of Tom Packet
VISU member Tom Packet will defend his PhD project, "Allies in Architecture? WWI and the Americanisation of Belgian Architecture, 1890-1939" on Monday, December 9. The public defense will take place from 15.00 until 18.00 at the VUB Etterbeek campus, room D2.01 (promotiezaal).
