Head of Research
Els De bruyn studied Social and Political Sciences at the University of Antwerp and Human Resources Management at the Antwerp Management School. After five years as researcher at the Antwerp University, in the field of social and cultural policy, she became Head of Research at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in 2009. In this period, in Flanders, research was introduced in art education and Schools of Arts were formed. A research policy (including also the presentation and publication of art and research, and the nexus between research and education) was developed. Collaboration with University of Antwerp was set up to introduce the possibility of phd-research in the arts, what led to the foundation of ARIA – Antwerp Research Institute for the Arts. During the past ten years, four research groups were formed at the academy, some fifty artist’s publications were made, some twenty artists were/are working on their phd research, and more than hundred research projects were financed. Research related projects, classes, events and activities became a vibrant part of life at the Academy and of the local art scene.