MOOVA's research team is currently composed of 3 PhD candidates in cultural management/cultural economics. The recruitement of a first postdoctoral researcher in applied economics/statistics/data analysis is scheduled for 2023-2024. A second postdoctoral researcher in behavioral psychology/cognitive science will be recruited in 2026.

 

Federica ARAMU (ERC PhD candidate)

Federic holds a Master’s degree in ‘Arts and Heritage: Policy, Management and Education’ (Maastricht University, 2021) and one in ‘Contemporary Arts’ (Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, 2019). Previously, she earned a Bachelor’s degree in ‘Art History and Cultural Heritage’ (Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, 2016), and gained over four years of experience working as an assistant curator and admissions coordinator in a museum of Modern Art in Italy. Her main research interests are the art market and collectionism, sustainability in arts and heritage, cultural policy and museology. Since October 2023, she is a PhD candidate in Cultural Management at the Université libre de Bruxelles, as part of the project MOOVA Making Old Objects Valuable  Again. The Cultural, Economic Challenges and Sustainability Opportunities of Antiques in the 21st Century (ERC-StG). Her doctoral work focuses on exploring the perceived value of ordinary antiques by current buyers as well as younger generations (Gen Z in particular), and analysing how the sustainability discourse impacts purchasing behaviours.

 

Alessia CROTTA (ERC PhD candidate)

Alessia Crotta is a cultural economist and PhD student in Cultural Management at Université Libre de Bruxelles, as part of the ERC Starting Grant project MOOVA - Making Old Objects Valuable Again. The Cultural, Economic Challenges and Sustainability Opportunities of Antiques in the 21st Century. After a Bachelors in Economics and Politics (University of Milan, 2018), she pursued a Master’s in Cultural Economics and Entrepreneurship (Erasmus University Rotterdam 2019). Since then she has been working at Erasmus University as a Lecturer in cultural economics, statistics and history of the art market, and more recently as collaborating researcher at Fondazione Santagata for the Economics of Culture and at ArtFiles. Her main research interests concern art markets, the economics of the cultural creative industries and the complex interrelation between cultural, art historical and economic values, which she has researched using quantitative as well as qualitative methods. Within the context of MOOVA, she is investigating and mapping the current state of the contemporary market for ordinary antiques, examining supply and current valuation strategies. In that, she aims at understanding the contemporary economic value placed in ordinary antique objects by identifying the current market structure and business models - both offline and online - by which such objects are exchanged.

Roberta RACCOMANDATO (ERC PhD candidate)

Roberta Raccomandato holds a master’s degree in “Arts and Heritage: Policy,
Management and Education Education” (University of Maastricht, 2023). Previously, she graduated in “Drama, Art, and Music Studies Studies” (University of Palermo, 2022). In October 2023, she started her PhD in Cultural Management at the Université Libre de Bruxelles as part of the ERC Starting Grant project “MOOVA Making Old Objects Valuable Again. The Cultural, Economic Challenges and Sustainability Opportunities of Antiques in the 21st Century.” Her main research interests are participatory heritage practices, the relationship between cultural and economic valuevalues, the interactions between society and material culture, and qualitative methods adopted in art market research. In the context of the MOOVA project, she is focusfocusing on the complex component parts of ordinary antiques’ cultural value and uniqueness. Moreover, she also investigate investigates the role that local antique dealers play in safeguarding and valuing informal heritage

MOOVA'S SCIENTIFIC COLLABORATORS

 

Alexandre LEROUX (data scientist)

Alexandre Leroux is a data scientist with a diverse portfolio, balancing his role as data scientist in the ProvEnhance project at the
Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Belgium with other engagements. With a background in computational social sciences, digital methods, he previously researched mobilisation and polarisation on social media using natural language processing and network analysis. Currently, Alexandre participate to the MOOVA project, supporting diverse data-related operations, including data management, extraction, and analysis.

Yuqing SONG (PhD Candidate CSC/FNRS/WBI)

Yuqing Song's background is multidisciplinary, as a mix encompassing design, engineering, sociology, marketing, and economics. She is now in the second-year of her PhD at the Solvay Business School of ULB, funded by CSC/FNRS/WBI, and her main research topic deals with authenticity issues in the Chinese Art Market. Her past research is mostly focused on the art market and the valuation of art. Throughout her life, she has never been too far from art, as Chinese calligraphy in particular has been  her inspiration, passion, and part of her since she was a little kid. Drawing upon her own research and past experiences, she will enrich the project MOOVA with an international outlook by bringing in insights from another cultural context, and contribute towards gaining a more complete picture of the antique business in the global scene.

 

 

MOOVA'S ADVISORY BOARD

MOOVA will be supported by an advisory board composed of renowned researchers in this field, including:

  • Prof. C. DEVUE (ULiège, Faculty of Psychology, who holds a background in art and is specialized in cognitive psychology);
  • Prof. T. FRY (Nottingham Trent University, econometrician whose recent work focuses on art market segmentation)
  • Prof. C. JANSSEN (ULB, Solvay Brussels school of Economics & Management, specialized in strategic and sustainable marketing)
  • Dr N. MAKOVICKY (University of Oxford, anthropologist specialized in material culture)
  • Prof. A. MIGNOSA (Erasmus University Rotterdam / University of Catania, specialist in the economics of crafts)
  • Prof. K. OOSTERLINCK (ULB, Solvay Brussels school of Economics & Management, specialist in art finance)
  • Prof. A. TURPIN (IESA, London, specialist in collecting practices and decorative arts)