Title Promoter Affiliations Abstract "Film, media and nation-building in Flanders." "Gertjan Willems" "Research Centre for Visual Poetics" "This research project aims at investigating the relation between media and nation-building in Flanders. The project consists of two parts. First, the project focuses on film and nation-building in Flanders from 1945 until today. Through quantitative and qualitative textual film analyses, the project critically examines the cinematic representation of Flanders and Flemish identities. Second, the project places these findings in their broader media and cultural context. This is done by editing an interdisciplinary volume on media and nation-building in Flanders from the 19th century until today. In this second part, the project offers an original synthesis of the existing research on media and nation-building in Flanders and formulates a research agenda for the future.BOF Small Research Grant." "Marcel Broodthaers and cinema." "Steven Jacobs" "Research Centre for Visual Poetics" "This project focuses on the multiple relations between Belgian artist Marcel Broodthaers (1924-1976 ) and cinema. Apart from surveying and analyzing his many films and film installations, it investigates the numerous references Broodthaers made to the medium of film, its technology, its history, and prehistory in both his works and writings. In addition, this project situates Broodthaers's films in the context of contemporaneous trends in experimental cinema and in the context of the film medium's migration to the space of the museum – an institution that Broodthaers questioned and deconstructed in many of his works. In so doing, this project will connect, compare, and reconceptualize two paradigms that developed quite parallel throughout the late 1960s and 1970s but which have not been connected previously: the artistic practice of so-called ""institutional critique"" (of which Broodthaers is one of the protagonists) and the ""apparatus theory"" in film studies. Furthermore, this project demonstrates how Broodthaers, who combined and conflated different artistic media, made explicit many of the key topics of the recent discipline of ""media archaeology"" such as a fascination for cinema's origins and prehistory, imagining cinema's alternative developments, histories, and futures." "Down to the Ground: a historical, visual and scientific analysis of coloured grounds in Netherlandish paintings, 1550-1650" "Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp" "Cultural diplomacy avant la lettre? The Circulation of Belgian art in the Southern Cone,1850-1914." "Koenraad Brosens" "Art History, Leuven" "An overlooked fact in Belgium’s colonial history is that Belgian ambitions reached beyond Africa and Congo. Even less well known is the role played by art in these projects. Between 1850 and 1914 several 'colonies Belges' were established in the Southern cone (Argentine, Chile and Uruguay). These agricultural and industrial settlements were realized by entrepreneurs and private organizations and were motivated by on the one hand imperialist dreams, and on the other hand by the host countries’ need to populate and develop the region. A striking fact is the simultaneous emergence of Belgian art in the region. Belgium’s participation in International Exhibitions in Chile and Argentina, the consuls’ engagement in the visual arts as well as the promotion of Belgian art by merchants and critics testify to the visual arts’ central position in a project of cultural diplomacy avant la lettre that intended to reinforce the country’s influence in the region. The art discourse in Santiago de Chile and Buenos Aires moreover suggests that Belgian art played a significant role in the creation and conceptualization of national modern art (scenes) in the emerging art centers of the region. The study of the artistic connection and the circulation of Belgian art in the Southern Cone opens up a unique perspective on the intersection between art, economy and politics and contributes to a global art history that focuses on flows of cultural products, ideas and ideologies. " "[Exhibition Project] James Ensor. Dreams of mother-of-pearl" "Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp" "Beneath the texture: 17th century still life painting technology explained" "Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp" "Research Council Laureate 2017 - Deleeck Award: Social and Human Sciences" "Vito Adriaensens" "Research Centre for Visual Poetics" """From New Stagecraft to New Cinema: Silent Film Performs the Avant-Garde"" is an intermedial undertaking geared towards redefining the evolution of cinema against developments in the historical avant-garde in performing arts." Timemachine. "Power in History - Centre for Political History, Centre for Urban History, Antwerp Centre for Digital humanities and literary Criticism (ACDC)" "What if you could travel through time as easily as we travel through space? With the Time Machine consortium, we work towards a large-scale FET Flagship project to build a large-scale simulator capable to map more than 2000 years of European history. This big data of the past, a common resource for the future, will trigger pioneering and momentous cultural, economic and social shifts. Understanding the past undoubtedly is a prerequisite for understanding present-day societal challenges and contributes to more inclusive, innovative and reflective societies. Researchers from all over the world are spearheading joint forces within the Time Machine FET Flagship project to reinvigorate the past through one of the most ambitious projects ever on European culture and identity. The fundamental idea of this project is based on Europe's truly unique asset: its long history, its multilingualism and interculturalism." "[Exhibition Project] Walther Vanbeselaere. Collector for the State 1948 - 1973" "Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp" "Within the series “private collections and exhibitions”, MDD presents in 2017 the modern art collection of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp (KMSKA) which was put together by chief curator Walther Vanbeselaere between 1948 and 1973.The exhibition will show art by Henri De Braekeleer, James Ensor, Rik Wouters, Jakob Smits, Constant Permeke, Gust De Smet and Jean Brusselmans." "[Exhibition Project] Rik Wouters : A Retrospective" "Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp" "A prominent figure in Brabant’s Fauvism, Rik Wouters brought us brilliant and colorful art, far from the dramas that marked his existence until his early death in 1916 at the age of 33. Rik Wouters equally mastered painting, sculpting and drawing: his extraordinary career has made him an essential representative of Modern Art in Belgium.The retrospective exhibition organized by the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, in partnership with the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp, is exceptional. For the first time, the two museums bring together in one exhibition the most important collection of works by the illustrious Belgian artist of the early 20th century. Rare loans from private collections and major international museums complete the ensemble. This major exhibition closes the series of tributes linked to the centenary of the artist’s death.The art of Rik Wouters is above all an abundance of colors and authentic, simple, touching subjects. Through his visual language, the construction of his subjects and the luminous richness of his palette, he developed an avant-garde style, while also being associated with artists like Ensor, then Cézanne and even Renoir. Rik Wouters was quickly appreciated by his contemporaries; his dazzling talent, although obstructed early on by the Great War and his illness, bequeaths to us a fascinating and masterful artistic legacy."