dr. M. (Merel) van Tilburg

Merel van Tilburg is an art historian, critic, art educator and curatorial advisor with an ongoing interest in the role of art in society and a deep commitment to de-hierarchising and critically broadening the discipline of art history from a global perspective, in particular the history and historiography of modern and contemporary art. Research interests include global modernisms; interculturality; gender studies; history and theory of craft; textile art; art theory; critical theory; philosophy of art; history of colonialism; theories of anti-colonialism; exhibition theory and practice; contemporary art and politics; environmental criticism; relationships between art and architecture; public art; cultural heritage; intermediality; performance art; art and psychology; affect theory; nineteenth-century art; symbolism; art criticism.

Merel is an art critic and regularly participates in artist’s publications, both as a writer and as an editor.
She sits on the advisory board of the Flemish art critical journal De Witte Raaf.
She was a scientific counsellor for the exhibition Nightfall / Le retour des ténèbres at the Musée Rath in Geneva (2016-2017) and has co-directed its scientific catalogue Nightfall. Gothic Imagination Since Frankenstein (Los Angeles/Geneva 2016).
Merel is co-editor in chief of the correspondance between Odilon Redon and his Dutch collector and sponsor Andries Bonger (Sans Adieu, Cohen & Cohen, March 2022).