Enlightened Spaces: The eighteenth-century interior and the study of decorative arts at Leiden University The University has long fostered the study of the decorative arts and domestic culture and has produced several notable specialists in this field. A new series of public lectures on the eighteenth-century interior organised by Alexander Dencher continues this tradition. Alexander Dencher • January 26, 2021
#ArchiveEmotion: my eighteenth century telenovela In a previous post, I mentioned the slow-pace of working with archives. Reading through metres of paper is however anything but boring. Besides finding material for our research we often find extremely interesting stories. Think of it as a paper telenovela of people that lived hundreds of years ago. Andrea Reyes Elizondo • November 26, 2020
Antigone in Kinshasa The documentary Les fantômes de Lovanium commemorates the 1969 and 1971 student revolts against Mobutu. While Congolese painter Sapin Makengele visualizes the tragedy that took place, students and other bystanders start to share their stories. Through their stories, the spirit of Antigone emerges. Astrid van Weyenberg • November 19, 2020
Where have all the women gone? Challenging structural patriarchy and rethinking feminist art history Where have all the women gone? It can be difficult, sometimes, to find evidence of female participation in the arts and culture of the early modern period. Catherine Powell explores how we can locate women and their participation by asking different questions. Catherine Powell • October 15, 2020
LUCAS Explains #11: How would you complain about the weather if you woke up in the Middle Ages? With the arrival of autumn, the weather has become rainier. Complaining about such bad weather seems to be a Dutch tradition. How would you have complained about it, though, if you had lived in the year 900? Sander Stolk explains how you can find out using newly available digital tooling. Sander Stolk • October 13, 2020
LUCAS Explains #10: Why is it so important to us to feel comfortable in our own skin? In this time of social distancing, physical contact, and therefore our skin, has become the subject of discussion on a global scale. Has the skin always been this important in the social life of human beings? And in what ways? Glyn examines these questions for Greek antiquity. Glyn Muitjens • September 29, 2020
Looking at the Past: The Task of the Theatre Historian What would it be like to travel to the past and watch a production of Shakespeare’s Hamlet at the Royal Theatre Drury Lane in 1812? Fernanda Korovsky Moura reflects on how the theatre can help us recreate and understand the past – without a time machine! Fernanda Korovsky Moura • September 17, 2020
LUCAS Explains #9: How come French people all have to know 350 year old poems by heart written for a king? Summer is over and it is time for children to go back to school, where we expect them to gain basic knowledge and skills. But what makes one book more important than another when creating a national curriculum? Céline rethinks the role of one of the most popular books in the French education. Céline Zaepffel • September 15, 2020