Program
Sunday, 15 March 2026
| 15:00-16:30 | Optional excursions (see this page for more information): |
| 1 – Boat tour through Ghent’s historic center | |
| 2 – Nineteenth-century art at the Museum of Fine Arts (MSK) with Johan De Smet, Department Head of Collections, MSK | |
| 3 – City walk with Jan Dumolyn, Professor of Medieval History, Ghent University | |
| 17:00-19:00 | Registration and opening reception |
Monday, 16 March 2026
Plenary session at the Museum of Fine Arts (MSK), Ghent
Congress chair: Hanna Klarenbeek, Curator of Paintings, Prints and Drawings at Paleis Het Loo in Apeldoorn
Congress theme: Telling Her Story – Female Creators, Collaborators and Collectors
| 08:30 – 09:00 | Doors open for registration and coffee and tea |
| 09:00 – 09:05 | Welcome by Vic Verhasselt, interim Director of the MSK |
| 09:05 – 09:15 | Introduction to the theme by the congress chair |
| 09:15 – 09:40 | Women Looking for Women: A Precarious Journey by Katlijne Van der Stighelen, Professor Emerita, University of Leuven |
| 09:40 – 10:05 | Beyond the Artist: Women as Consumers, Collectors, and Connoisseurs by Judith Noorman, Associate Professor of Early Modern Art History, University of Amsterdam |
| 10:05 – 10:35 | Coffee and tea break |
| 10:35 – 11:00 | Is the Future Female? by Andaleeb Badiee Banta, Andrew W. Mellon Senior Curator of Prints and Drawings, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. |
| 11:00 – 11:15 | Questions, remarks and discussion led by the congress chair |
| 11:15 – 11:30 | Introduction to the exhibition ‘Unforgettable. Women Artists from Antwerp to Amsterdam, 1600-1750’ by Frederica Van Dam, Curator of Old Masters, MSK |
| 11:30 – 12:30 | Plenary visit to the exhibition ‘Unforgettable. Women Artists from Antwerp to Amsterdam, 1600-1750’ |
| 12:30 – 13:40 | Lunch and free time to visit the permanent collection |
| 13:40 – 14:40 | Case studies on the congress theme |
| 1. Catharina van Hemessen: Fact, Fiction and Flemish Brushwork by Maarten Bassens, Curator, Snijders&Rockoxhuis, Antwerp | |
| 2. Women’s Stories and the Use of Objects in the exhibition “At Home in the 17th Century” by Femke Diercks, Head of the Decorative Arts Department, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam | |
| 3. Women’s Business/Business Women by Véronique Van de Kerckhof, Head of Collections and Historic House Curator, Museum Plantin-Moretus/Prentenkabinet, Musea Antwerpen | |
| 4. Female Donors: How Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen Is Recovering Overlooked Contributions to the Collection by Anne-Linde Ruiter, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam | |
| 5. Beyond Piety. Beguines and Female Cultural Agency in the Low Countries by Niels Schalley, Curator, Museum Hof van Busleyden, Mechelen | |
| 14:40 – 14:55 | Questions, remarks and discussion led by the congress chair |
| 14:55 – 15:00 | Closing of the day by the congress chair |
| 15:45 – 17:15 | In-depth study visits (see this page for more information): |
| 1 – MSK: Visit to the permanent collection with Candice Van Heghe and Inez De Prekel | |
| 2 – MSK: Restoration of the Ghent Altarpiece with Hélène Dubois | |
| 3 – Saint Bavo’s Cathedral and the Ghent Altarpiece | |
| 4 – STAM – Ghent City Museum with Wout De Vuyst | |
| 5 – City palaces: Hotel d’Hane Steenhuyse and Huis Arnold Vander Haeghen | |
| 6 – St. Nicholas’ Church and St. Michael’s Church | |
| 7 – MSK: In-depth visit to the exhibition ‘Unforgettable. Women Artists from Antwerp to Amsterdam, 1600-1750’ with Frederica Van Dam | |
| 8 – Ghent University: special collections and Boekentoren | |
| 19:00 – 22:00 |
Congress dinner generously supported by the Royal Netherlands Embassy in Brussels |
Tuesday, 17 March 2026
Members’ meeting at STAM – Ghent City Museum
Congress chair: Adam Eaker, Howard Marks Curator, Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York
| 09:00 – 09:30 | Doors open with coffee and tea |
| 09:30 – 09:35 | Opening of the day |
| 09:35 – 09:45 | Word from the Director of CODART |
| 09:45 – 10:00 | Update from Ukraine by Mariana Varchuk, Senior Research Associate and Curator of the Collection of Portrait Miniatures, The Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko Museum of Arts, Kyiv |
| 10:00 – 11:15 | Speakers’ Corner |
| 11:15 – 11:45 | Coffee and tea break |
| 11:45 – 12:40 | Room for Debate |
| 12:40 – 12:45 | Closing of the day by the congress chair |
| 12:45 – 15:00 | Lunch at your own leisure and time to travel to locations of the in-depth study visits |
| 15:00 – 16:30 | In-depth study visits (see this page for more information): |
| 1 – MSK: Visit to the permanent collection with Candice Van Heghe and Inez De Prekel | |
| 2 – MSK: In-depth visit to the exhibition ‘Unforgettable. Women Artists from Antwerp to Amsterdam, 1600-1750’ with Frederica Van Dam | |
| 3 – Saint Bavo’s Cathedral and the Ghent Altarpiece | |
| 4 – STAM – Ghent City Museum with Wout De Vuyst | |
| 5 – St. Nicholas’ Church and St. Michael’s Church | |
| 6 – Castle of the Counts (Gravensteen) | |
| 7 – St. Peter’s Abbey and Our Lady of St Peter’s Church | |
| 8 – Hotel Vanden Meersche | |
| 17:00 – 18:30 | Farewell drinks |
| End of Program |
Wednesday, 18 March 2026
Optional program CODART 27
| Full day |
Full-day excursion to the Castle of Loppem and Bruges. Please find more information here. |