Research

Moving Cultures investigates processes of migration and cultural and religious acculturation, focusing on the Roman creative industry as a node of international importance throughout history. The program continues the tradition established at the KNIR in the early twentieth century and the publication of important archival material documenting the presence of Dutch artists, architects, intellectuals and prelates in the Eternal City and the way they interacted with local patrons, artists and academics. Moving Cultures develops and expands this research by connecting studies on connectivity and cultural and religious interaction in antiquity with research on early-modern migration and the contemporary art world.

Key-words: Migration, interculturality, network theory, religious acculturation, creative industries, connectivity, digital humanities, Dutch-Italian relationships

Moving Cultures primarily aims to study and visualise networks of itinerant artists (including the Prix de Rome winners), intellectuals, writers, prelates and Grand Tourists and their exchanges with Italians and foreigners within the city of Rome and the wider European context. Particular attention is being paid to acculturation processes, both in the context of educational travel and as part of more permanent migration. This research is eminently suited for digital humanities approaches, geographical mapping and network visualisations. Apart from encouraging present-day artists to participate in the Roman context of international academies, the program also enables collaboration between the humanities and the social sciences, especially migration studies, communication science, (religious) anthropology and economics.