Ingrid Holmberg

Ingrid Holmberg is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Conservation at the University of Gothenburg. She is actively engaged in research, teaching, and PhD supervision, with a focus on urban heritage, historical landscapes, and the heritage of national minorities, particularly the Roma people. She serves as research coordinator for the Curating the City research cluster at the Centre for Critical Heritage Studies and has led major research projects funded by Vetenskapsrådet and Riksantikvarieämbetet.

Her educational background includes a PhD awarded in 2006 and the title of docent (associate professor) achieved in 2018. Her research has been recognized with an award from the Kungl. Gustav Adolfsakademin för svensk folkkultur.

Her research interests center on the city as a mnemonic device, historical landscapes, participatory heritage management, and the maintenance and repair of old buildings in the context of the Anthropocene. She critically examines how official heritage institutions engage with marginalized histories and subaltern narratives, particularly those of the Roma. Her work bridges theory and practice, incorporating perspectives from critical heritage studies, urban sociology, and material culture.

Her recent publications reflect a strong trend toward understanding heritage as a dynamic, participatory, and ethically charged process. Themes include the politics of tradition in maintenance practices, the ephemeral topographies of mobile communities, and the re-valuation of urban materials through reuse and retro-fitting. She explores how heritage is co-produced across institutional and grassroots boundaries.

• Prized by the Kungl. Gustav Adolfsakademin för svensk folkkultur

She has supervised multiple PhD students, including Leidulf Mydland, Malin Weijmer, Moniek Driesse, and Sigrun Hanna Thorgrimsdottír. She has been principal investigator in several significant research projects, such as Maintenance Matters and Re:heritage, and has collaborated with institutions including UCL London and TU Berlin. Her work is deeply engaged with public outreach and policy impact, particularly in advancing inclusive heritage practices.

She is affiliated with the Curating the City research cluster and has contributed to initiatives that bridge academic research with public heritage discourse, including public lectures, film interviews, and collaborative exhibitions.