A talk by Koenraad Jonckheere

What is the relationship between the Holy Trinity and social media? How do hashtags influence us? Why are we so inclined to use filters? Why do we treat digital images differently than analogue ones? Art history offers a beginning of answers.

Koenraad Jonckheere dives into the surprising connections between 2500 years of European art history and our modern, image-obsessed culture on social media. He reveals how ancient ideas about observation, likeness, and imagination still influence how we use digital images today. Unravelling the paradox of “looking without seeing and seeing without looking”, he offers a fascinating insight into the power and pitfalls of visual communication in the digital era, and how influencers use the same mechanisms as the Old Masters.

Koenraad Jonckheere is an art historian who moves effortlessly between the worlds of the Northern Renaissance and today’s visual culture. At Ghent University he teaches art history, but just as often he builds bridges — between centuries, styles, and ways of looking. 

He will present his book Instagrammable. What Art Tells Us about Social Media, published in 2024

Photo: © Stephan Vanfleteren