THIS BLOG is created by the Arts & Media Archaeology team at the Antwerp Research Institute for the Arts (ARIA, UAntwerp) and associated colleagues. We want to offer a peek behind the scenes of our research, including visits to unique archives or remarkable private collectors, seminars with international speakers, media archaeological experiments, and inspiring cases. Our aim is to showcase the varied and challenging nature of our research process.
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LATEST ARTICLES
Unlocking lists in itinerant showpeople periodicals with AI
Periodicals are a goldmine for historical research as they contain different types of information. However, it is sometimes difficult to extract this data. The layout of these journals often contain multiple columns, lists, tables, various fonts and sizes, and a combination of text and images which all complicate the extraction process.
Nonetheless, I was curious about the lists of recommended establishments that were published in showpeople periodicals. These lists are tucked away between running text about correspondence, marriages, meeting reports and much more. Within the Belgian Comète Belge (1905-1919) — a corpus of 216 journal issues, containing 4198 pages — I wanted to analyse the establishments’ location within cities, the services they offered, and the changes they went through over time, as these lists contain the name, address, city, and additional information on hotels, bars, cafés, and restaurants that welcomed showpeople.
Unearthing precious fairground ephemera: From discovery to preservation
In the shadow of the Royal Library of Belgium in Brussels, an extraordinary collection of over four hundred fairground ephemera recently surfaced at a vintage…
“What every young man should know and every young woman should see”. How you could learn all about pregnancy and childbirth at the fairground
The fair used to be a place to have fun, but also to discover something new. Young and old alike prepared to visit the lion tamer, the boxing stall, or the…
From Congo atrocities to Ruwenzori heroism: The power of visual campaigns in Belgian colonial lantern lectures
One of the most arresting images from Belgian colonial history is the photograph of Nsala of Wala gazing at his daughter’s severed hand and foot, taken by…
About
This blog is an initiative of the Arts & Media Archaeology team at the Antwerp Research Institute for the Arts (UAntwerp) and associated colleagues.
We study the circulation of science, knowledge and visual culture through popular entertainment in the long nineteenth century. How were science and technology introduced to large audiences? What forms of knowledge were transmitted and disseminated through popular culture? What role did visual media play in the circulation of knowledge? At the same time, we look at how this culture continues to affect us today with attention to the changing relation between art and science.
Our interdisciplinary team brings together artists and researchers from Art and Performance Studies, Media Archaeology and Cultural History. We share an interest in the interactions between performance, science and technology, and their media archaeological entanglements.
FIND OUT MORE ON OUR RESEARCH PROJECTS
SciFair is a five-year research project (2021-2026) funded by the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No 948678 – SciFair).