On Tuesday May 31st, the opening of the new LeidenGlobal photo exhibition ‘Crafting Cultures’ was celebrated at the Faculty of Archeology of Leiden University. In front of a crowd of around 30 spectators, chairperson of LeidenGlobal and initiator of the photo exhibition prof. Pieter ter Keurs gave a warm welcome to the guests. After providing a short insight into his personal interest in the topic of Crafting Cultures, professor ter Keurs introduced the dr. Maikel Kuijpers and prof. Luc Amkreutz who would go more in-depth about the context and background of the exhibition.
Dr. Maikel Kuijpers, advisor for this exhibition, raised questions about the definition of ‘crafts’ and our understanding of the relationship between craftmanship and humankind. The theme of Crafting Cultures relates to dr. Kuijpers’ own research and interests, which inspired him to become a part of the exhibition.
Following dr. Kuijpers’ remarks, prof. Luc Amkreutz presented his chosen submission for the exhibition “Traces of ancient glue”. Found during his research on Doggerland, prof. Amkreutz emphasized the complexity of crafting this ancient type of adhesive and how we should not underestimate the ways in which Neanderthals used crafts.
Finally, dr. Kuijpers formally opened the exhibition and the audience could take the very first look.
=> For an extensive report on the opening, read the report by Laura van Alden for the LDE Centre for Global Heritage and Development
by Lisa van der Geest, LeidenGlobal
photo credits of the overview by Jade de Groen, Erik de Maaker and Aphroditi Zoulfoukaridis