Stephanie Noach wins Praemium Erasmianum Foundation Dissertation Prize
University lecturer Stephanie Noach has won the Dissertation Prize of the Praemium Erasmianum Foundation. She is receiving this prestigious prize for her research on darkness in contemporary art from Latin America and the Caribbean.
‘I find it incredibly honourable that people who know nothing about my work nevertheless embrace it so openly,’ says Noah. ‘In Dutch art history, there is little attention to Latin American art. It is great to see that the committee is so open to other voices and a PhD thesis that adopts an alternative structure, including the use of poetry from the Caribbean.’
Elusive resistance
In her PhD thesis, Noah explores how materially dark artworks question or even change our thinking about darkness. To this end, she focuses on artworks constructed from dark matter: installations in the dark, monochromatic black photographs, and collagraphs of black ink. She also zooms in on works in which this dark matter is immaterial and intangible, as in performances in the dark.
‘Such works have the potential to offer resistance and generate freedom,’ she explains. ‘On the one hand, you can see in the work the potential and power to set all possible things in motion; on the other hand, the darkness offers the possibility of concealment and therefore protection. This makes this research partly at odds with traditional academic inquiry, which has always focused on revealing.’
Public edition
In the future, Noah hopes to publish her research as a monograph. ‘It would be great if I could make this more widely available.’
About the prize
The Dissertation Prize of the Praemium Erasmianum Foundation is awarded annually to up to five outstanding PhD dissertations in the fields of Humanities, Social Sciences, and Law. The winners also receive a sum of €3,000.