Sofie Verclyte is an affiliated researcher to KASK & Conservatorium, the school of arts of HOGENT and Howest and the Human Rights Centre. She obtained a Master’s Degree in Conflict and Development studies at Ghent University. Prior to her current position, she worked with refugee minors in the Orientation and Observation Centre of Fedasil (Federal Agency of the Reception of Asylum Seekers) in Steenokkerzeel.
Her current project, ‘On Weaving Migrating Heritage’, builds on insights from the fields of design anthropology and legal anthropology. A comparative study with Burundian and Syrian refugee artisans is at the same time aimed at shaping her own artistic practice and exploring how these refugees’ skilled practices could offer elements for contesting dominant discourses on development and on economic, social and cultural rights.
The project is supervised by Dr. Catherine Willems and Prof. Dr. Tine Destrooper .
The research project On migrating heritage was financed by the HOGENT Arts Research Fund.