Of central relevance to our network, Anastasia Christophilopoulou (Archaeologist and Museum Curator) currently leads a four-year research project entitled ‘Being an Islander’: Art and Identity of the large Mediterranean Islands’; which will culminate in a large exhibition in Cambridge, starting in February 2023[1]. The project and exhibition aim to elucidate what defines island identity in the Mediterranean by diachronically re-examining the concept of island life through material culture, and by studying the interaction of islands with their respective mainland. Her future research will compare the data of Aegean small island clusters (e.g. the Cyclades) during the Late Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age periods with the examples of larger islands, including Cyprus, Crete and Sardinia. Christophilopoulou has extensive interdisciplinary experience and her museum projects integrate research findings from various fields within archaeology (e.g. ceramics studies, archaeobotany and archaeometallurgy), history, human geography, and anthropology.

[1] A summary of the project’s research aims, and narrative can be found here:

Narrative: https://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/being-islander-art-and-identity-large-mediterranean-islands     

Press release: https://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/sites/default/files/pressrelease/Being%20an%20Islander_logos.pdf