Everything in English

I am a public historian. Which means I do my work in the public sphere and together with people. This can involve research, publications, exhibitions, conversations, or archival work. Like many public historians, I am mainly active within the heritage sector.

As a freelancer, I am not affiliated with a single institution but collaborate with a wide range of organizations (such as STAM, Ghent University, AMAL, Amsab-ISG, VOEM, and others).

The common thread throughout all my projects is migration and urban history from below. My work is strongly focused on the democratization of heritage in a superdiverse society.

On the challenges surrounding heritage, history, and superdiversity, I published Sharing the Past (Ons Gedeeld Verleden). I also developed a method called “negotiating the past” to put these ideas into practice — a method that has inspired and motivated grassroots organizations, activists, heritage professionals, academics, policymakers, and social workers both in Belgium and abroad to approach participation in a more critical way. The method is based on an ethical framework that centers sharing authority, dialogue, and reciprocity — as a response to extractivism, tokenism, and instrumentalization in participatory work. This framework underpins all of my projects and collaborations.

Bio

Public historian, writer, speaker, researcher, curator. Professional street walker.

Born in 1982 in Ghent (Belgium), she has focused most of her work as a public historian on putting her hometowns contemporary history under the microscope, using a critical and global perspective. Migration, urbanity, heritage, superdiversity and social struggles are recurring themes. Public space, oral history and fundamental participation are core methods. Her latest project, The Square Kilometer (for the Ghent City Museum STAM), won the European Heritage Award of 2024. For this project she developed a new methodological framework for participatory heritage work in superdiversity: negotiating narratives. The jury called it "a visionary undertaking that not only empowers communities to reclaim their heritage but also enriches our understanding of urban history and diversity". Tina is a much sought after expert and keynote speaker on heritage, participation and diversity.

Writer

Onderweg (Lannoo, 2025) is my first book for children.
Together with internationally acclaimed graphic novelist and illustrator Aimée de Jongh (Rotterdam, the Netherlands), we set out to explore how migrations of the past have shaped our lives — and yours. The result is a vibrant and beautifully illustrated journey through 33 key moments and turning points in global migration history. A book to look at, read, discover, and enjoy — for children, adults, and families alike.

The Gates (Lannoo, 2024) offers an in-depth exploration of the recent history of urban 'gate areas': superdiverse neighborhoods that have shaped and reshaped city life over the past 200 years. Drawing from her research in the 'gate neighborhoods' of her hometown Ghent, she presents a fresh perspective on urban and migration history. In the book, she examines why and how specific neighborhoods evolved into arrival zones for generations of newcomers. She also delves into the significance of these areas for local communities, highlighting their unique infrastructure, public spaces, and economic networks, and their profound impact on people's lives. Furthermore, she explores how these neighborhoods became incubators for new social structures, including grassroots organizations and activist movements. The book underscores the deep, intrinsic link between urbanity and global mobility.

Turkey on the Lys (Lannoo, 2014) was the first book Tina published. It provides a detailed account of the history of the Turkish migration to Ghent (1964-2014). It was groundbreaking for being one of the first books in Belgium to focus on recent migration history. Moreover, the book was critically acclaimed for its 'from below' perspective, being based on over a 100 testimonies.

The book served as a basis for several projects on migration history and heritage in superdiversity in Ghent and Flanders, such as exhibitions and research projects.

Tina has written several other books on migration history. Sadly, none have been translated in English (yet).

Temporary Exhibition: The Gates

Who can imagine a city without the hustle and bustle of superdiverse urban hubs? Once exclusive to metropolises, transit zones have become indespensible to any European city. But what’s their story? How have these ‘gate areas’ shaped and reshaped urban life in the past two centuries? Who better to give us a unique peek behind the curtains of urban life than the locals themselves. Let them take you to the other side of the city: where the tourist guides run dry, but the coffee is always running. Discover the hidden histories of urban gate-areas in a globalizing world: from the gate towers in the 19th century to the social maze you’ll find there today. Find out why entering a city is easy, but arriving is hard. Welcome to the gates: a side of the city you’ve never seen. At least not this close.

The Gates. On the Edge of the City. Nov 28 2024- Aug 31 2025 - STAM City Museum

The exhibition is presented in English, French and Dutch. English guides are also available.

Historian

As a freelance public historian, Tina conceptualises, researches and curates heritage projects. She has worked together with many organisations in different sectors, but her main partner for many years has been the Ghent City Museum STAM. In 2014 she curated the exhibition 'Sticking Around' for STAM (an exhibition in which 35 locations that were created by recent migration were made visible).

In 2018 she was commissioned by the museum to travel around the 'gate areas' of the city for the groundbreaking participatory heritage project De Vierkante Kilometer / The Square Kilometer, for which she created the concept of 'historian in residence'.

Speaker

Tina is a much sought after public speaker, more specifically on migration history and heritage in superdiversity. She is also a keen urban walker and integrates walking in all aspects of her work: she uses it for fieldwork, conducts walking interviews and of course she takes history lovers, locals, students, organisations and others on walking tours in the non-touristic parts to introduce them into 'hidden histories'. She worked out several walking plans for neighborhoods. Each year during the Ghent festival (Gentse Feesten, july) she offers audiences a glimpse of what she's been working on that year, by translating her most recent discoveries into walking tours.

She does walks in English as well.

Foto's © Bianca Goyens, Agnes De Maeseneir, Klaartje Van Kerckem, Sven Sanctobin, Meryem Cosgun, Burgerplicht, Martin Enzo Corlazzoli Aguilar

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse