Research event 20 February 2019: The Magic Lantern in the Belgian History of Education and Spiritual Instruction

Long before social media, cinema and PowerPoint presentations, images were already an important means of communication. The magic lantern, or ‘laterna magica’, was a fascinating and instructive tool, which became especially popular in the 19th and early 20th century. The invention was used to project transparent images onto glass slides on the walls of theatres, schools and people’s homes. The lantern was the first visual mass medium to contest the printed word as a primary mode of information and instruction. All layers of society, both literate and illiterate, received visual information about nature, religion, science, new technologies and foreign countries. The B-magic project “The Magic Lantern and its Cultural Impact as a Visual Mass Medium in Belgium (1830-1940)” will write the as yet unwritten history of the magic lantern as a mass medium in Belgium.

This second B-magic research event is organized in collaboration with KADOC and will explore the role of the magic lantern and other visual aids in education and spiritual instruction. It will take place on 20 February, 14h-17h30 at KADOC, Leuven.
Keynote speaker is Prof. dr. Jens Ruchatz from the Institute of Media Studies at the Philipps University Marburg, who will give a lecture on: “Photographic Dispositives in Education. Observations on the historical usage of print, projection and stereography”.

The full programma can be downloaded here.

The event is open to the public, but registration is required. Please confirm your presence before 15 February to Nelleke Teughels (nelleke.teughels@kuleuven.be).