17.04.24, 17:00, Doctoral defense Sofie Verclyte, On Migrating Heritage
On Wednesday April 17th, Sofie Verclyte, artistic research at KASK & Conservatorium, will defend her PhD to obtain the interdisciplinary title Doctor in the Arts and Law. Please confirm your presence by email to sofie.verclyte@hogent.be.
On Migrating Heritage
Disruptive life events often spark a need to narrate and share these experiences. Yet, because of their painful and overwhelming nature, these experiences can simultaneously impede expression and communication when conveyed solely through spoken or written language. In Shatila, a refugee camp in the South of Beirut, the dynamic language of embroidery is a day-to-day gendered activity rooted in the region’s rich textile tradition. When the war in neighboring Syria generated an influx of new refugees into the camp, there was a revival of embroidery practices.
The interdisciplinary research On Migrating Heritage focused on artistic practices as a narrative in the context of conflict and displacement. Through a performative methodology of collaborative making, the research explored how these embroidery practices provide a way (i) for Syrian embroiderers to express ideas about (in)justice and (ii) for researchers and artists to engage in a (visual and verbal) conversation about these issues. This resulted in individual embroidered stories as well as co-created embroidered collages in a negotiated visual language.
Sofie Verclyte
Sofie Verclyte is researcher at KASK & Conservatorium and the Human Rights Centre. She obtained a master’s degree in Fashion Design and Conflict and Development studies. Prior to her current position, she worked with refugee minors in the Orientation and Observation Centre of Fedasil in Steenokkerzeel. Within the scope of this PhD, financed by the HOGENT Arts Research Fund, she (co-)authored three peer-reviewed articles at the nexus of design anthropology and legal anthropology. Together with the artists in Shatila, she is the author of the book Migrating Heritage (published by APE).
