Marzia Varutti visiting researcher at CCHS

Marzia Varutti is a museologist currently based at the Center for Affective Sciences, University of Geneva. In her research and teaching (most recently as EU Marie S. Curie-funded researcher), she has approached a range of topics in the fields of museum and heritage studies. These include the politics of cultural representation in China, Taiwan, Norway; and Indigenous perspectives on museums, in Taiwan and Sápmi.

Her most recent and ongoing research focuses on the intersections between museums, emotions and ecology. This has brought her to explore topics such as the role of emotions in museums, ecological grief and mourning for ecological losses, and the potential of ecopoetry for cultivating ecological awareness.

She is broadly interested in the range of roles museums are called to play in the Anthropocene, their resulting institutional metamorphosis, and the new tools (language, narratives, affective registers etc.) museums are forging in order to bring about positive societal change.

“During my visit at the CCHS, I am looking forward to connecting and exchanging with colleagues interested in the above topics – be they researchers or practitioners in the museum and cultural heritage sectors.” 

“The exchange with Marzia Varutti has already begun. When I first met her, it took a minute for us to get this great sense of inspiration and shared areas of interest, even if we come from completely different subject areas. It is a wonderful thing for CCHS to be able to fulfil the task of creating cross-border critical heritage encounters with international top scholars in such as swift way. First planned event is a cross-border seminar on Museums and Emotions at the Dept. of Cultural Sciences, 20 September” says Astrid von Rosen, director CCHS.