Vera-Simone Schulz

Vera-Simone Schulz is an art historian and Professor for Transcultural Art History (W1) at Leuphana University Lüneburg, as well as an Associate Scholar at the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz – Max-Planck-Institut. Her research bridges African, Islamic, and European art histories, focusing on transcultural connectivity, material migrations, and critical museology.

• Doctoral research on Florence and Tuscany’s Mediterranean/global entanglements
• Habilitationsprojekt on East African coastal art histories
• Co-founder of 'Planetary Patchwork' and 'Plants in Africa and the Global South' working groups

Her work investigates how objects, people, and materials traverse colonial and postcolonial contexts, challenging traditional art historical frameworks. Recent projects include 'Material Migrations: Mamluk Metalwork across Afro-Eurasia' and 'Epistemologies of Conviviality' with summer schools in Somalia, Eritrea, and Ethiopia.

Grants and fellowships include support from the Gerda Henkel Foundation, German Research Foundation (DFG), DAAD, and residencies at the Warburg Institute and CRASSH. She teaches in international master’s programs and contributes to debates on ecology, heritage, and digital transformation in museums.