A NEW RESEARCH PROGRAM BETWEEN A UNIVERSITY AND A MUSEUM
Consisting of approximately 120,000 items, the vast photographic collection of the Royal Museums of Art and History in Brussels has never been studied thoroughly. Thanks to the FED-tWIN programme of the Federal Science Policy, which aims to promote sustainable cooperation between the ten Federal Scientific Institutions and the eleven Belgian universities through the funding of joint research profiles, the photo collection is now the subject of a research project focused on its preservation and scholarly valorization.
In the 2024-2025 academic year, Dr. Marie Auger succeeded Dr. Anaïs Mauurin in a FED-tWIN research position. As part of her research seminar on the History of Photography at UGent, Marie encouraged her students to collaboratively engage with a portion of the Royal Museums of Art and History’s collection, which is already accessible online through the CARMENTIS catalog.
This virtual exhibition project was made possible through the dedicated involvement of the Art History students from UGent and the support of both partner institutions. It not only met the academic objectives set by the university but also marked an important step toward the public dissemination of the collections—contributing meaningfully to the museum’s outreach and visibility.
