Brechtje Polman is a Dutch curator and interdisciplinary researcher with a passion for the visual anthropology approach.She currently lives in Trento where she works as a volunteer at a small local contemporary art gallery and in a residence (CAS) for migrants.She studied Interdisciplinary Social Sciences at the University of Amsterdam and holds a master’s degree in Cultural Anthropology and Sustainable Citizenship, as well as a master’s degree in Social Geography and Spatial Planning (urban planning) from Utrecht University.In her latest thesis, she explored community gardens in Amsterdam’s most marginalised district, conducting an ethnography and analysing them as ‘third spaces’ that serve as both sites of contestation and community. Until March this year, she worked as a research assistant at this university, where she conducted a discourse analysis on the topic of reproductive rights and the spatial politics of abortion.

Mainly interested in Mediterranean studies (Meridian thought), de- & postgrowth theory, the politics of spaces, and traditions regarding the commons, particularly projected towards the Apulian territory, Brechtje Polman’s main goal is to merge the art world with the academy, to curate and produce artworks strongly influenced by discourse awareness, using art as a tool to expand the boundaries of social research.