SEMA Initiative for promoting interdisciplinary research on pictorial communication through the ages
Throughout history, pictures have been used to record, transmit, and perpetuate messages. The goal of the SEMA Initiative is to stimulate the exchange and cooperation between researchers who are trying to better understand the communicative qualities and uses of images in various visual cultures, from ancient to present times. In particular, it wants to foster the dialogue between disciplines dealing with the visual cultures of the ancient world and the fields of art history and media studies. For a long time, the exchange between these research areas has been rather limited, owing to certain academic traditions, despite the common goal of understanding the uses and functions of pictures. The SEMA Initiative wants to change this by offering a platform for researchers from these fields to come together and to discuss observations and ideas, exchange methodologies, share resources, and inspire each other to pursue new research avenues.
The SEMA Initiative was founded by Dr. Frederik Rogner. Following his MA in Egyptology and in Classical Archaeology, he conducted a doctoral research project on phenomena of ‘visual narrativity’ and ‘pictorial narration’ in ancient Egypt at the University of Basel and at the École Pratique des Hautes Études – Université Paris Sciences et Lettres. This was followed by several postdoc projects at the Universities of Leiden and Geneva, in which he dealt with other aspects of pictorial communication in ancient Egypt.
Throughout his research, as a member of the Graduate School of Eikones – The Center for the Theory and History of the Image in Basel, and as a postdoctoral researcher at the Netherlands Institute for the Ancient Near East in Leiden, Frederik Rogner has repeatedly experienced how the exchange of ideas with colleagues from other fields can offer novel perspectives on seemingly well-known objects. This inspired him to found the SEMA Initiative with the aim of bringing together young researchers from various disciplines who aim to develop a more in-depth understanding of how pictorial communication has been shaped and experienced from antiquity to the modern-day world.
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About the name: The name of the initiative has been inspired by two terms in two ancient languages. In the ancient Egyptian language, the term sema means ‘uniting’, ‘bringing together’. The ancient Greek word sema means ‘sign’. In an almost miraculous way, the two terms complement each other in describing the goal of SEMA: bringing together researchers who are studying phenomena of pictorial communication!
Any use of the SEMA logo which has not been authorised by Dr. Frederik Rogner is strictly prohibited.