Arts & Media Archaeology

About

Join us on a journey through the linked histories of media and performance. Experiment with old and new technologies and explore the sensory dimensions of media. Engage with leading experts, collaborate with contemporary artists, and become part of a dynamic learning experience, questioning, experimenting, and critically analyzing the role of media in our past and present.

The 2026 edition of the Arts and Media Archaeology Summer School will focus on the interplay between media developments and performative culture, spanning from the late eighteenth century to the present day. Through lectures, artist talks, re-enactments and interactive hands-on experimentation, the summer school programme aims to foster students’ ability to think through media by questioning their materiality, sensory properties, and its role as a historical source.

This summer school is organised in the framework of Science at the Fair: Performing Knowledge and Technology in Western Europe, 1850-1914 (www.scifair.eu) a five-year research project coordinated by Nele Wynants, funded by the European Research Council (ERC). The programme is coordinated by Nele Wynants, in collaboration with Bart G. Moens & Elisa Seghers.

Course leader

Organised by Nele Wynants, in collaboration with Eva Andersen, Bart G. Moens & Elisa Seghers.

Target group

The Summer School is aimed at research MA and PhD students and more advanced scholars in the field of Arts, Performance, Media and Cultural History from the University of Antwerp and other universities in Belgium and abroad.

Required: Background (obtained BA) in the field of Arts, Performance, Media or Cultural History or the History of Science, Knowledge and Technology.

Fee info

This tuition fee includes course materials, coffee breaks, lunches, social activities organised by the summer school, a round-trip train ticket to Ghent, the reception, and one social dinner. It does not include travel and accommodation.