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The Maastricht Experimental Research in and through the Arts Network (MERIAN) welcomes two University College Maastricht students who will research Maria Sibylla Merian and the implications of using her name.  

Alice Jourdain and Olivia Garfitt Christensen have started their bachelors research internship with MERIAN focusing on our namesake. Their research will focus on the sociopolitical implications of having MERIAN as an arts education institution name.

In this research internship, Jourdain and Garfitt will research Maria Sibylla Merian’s legacy, in topics such as 17th century, colonialism, feminism and arts and science. They will reflect on the institution positionality and suggest ways for MERIAN to become more inclusive.

Jourdain and Garfitt’s contributions will include archive lists, blurbs for the MERIAN website, an exhibition-like video presenting Maria Sibylla and explaining MERIAN’s positionality regarding her name, and an action report for the steering committee.

Their research findings will be presented at UCM on 27 January 2022.

MERIAN is a space for collaborative research in between making and thinking. PhD candidates engage in innovative styles of research, utilizing the powers and fragilities of artistic and scientific practices. Their research addresses urgent matters of societal concern apparent in the Meuse-Rhine Euregion. This collaboration between Maastricht University, Zuyd University of Applied Sciences and the Jan van Eyck Academie builds on existing expertise from the research, arts and higher education networks in Maastricht. The distinct Maastricht style of ‘research in and through the arts’ is problem-based, methodologically innovative, and focuses on interdisciplinary topics that can fruitfully be.

MERIAN is a collaboration between:

For further information about MERIAN, please contact info@merianmaastricht.nl.