What is your topic of research and what led you to choose it?
I am currently researching the role that the Anglo-Americans played in World War II in the protection of museums and cultural heritage in general, along with instances of troops' illicit treatment of art in occupied territories of Italy.
I've always been interested in the topic of cultural property protection in wartime, especially in relation to the two World Wars. The study of these events can act as historical lessons for contemporary conflicts.
I've started researching safekeeping systems adopted for museums in World War II just after having completed my MA, beginning from a chapter I wrote in my MA thesis. The thesis was about the history of the Civic Museum of Bologna (Italy) between 1921 and 1944 - one of the thesis chapters was centred around the events that interested the museum in World War II.
Where did you study previously? What was your academic path?
I did both my BA and MA at the University of Bologna (Italy). The BA was in Cultural Tourism and the MA in Art History, with a strong interest on museum studies. During my MA, I focused especially on museum history. Just after the MA, I participated in conferences and published academic articles on cultural property protection in World War II. Between the MA and the start of the PhD, I conducted a research project (as independent researcher) on the safekeeping systems adopted during the First World War at the Civic Museum of Bologna.
What is your favourite museum or art gallery, and why?
One of my favourite museums is the Egyptian Museum in Turin (Museo Egizio di Torino, Italy). Since I've always been interested in museum history, I love the way in which curators have treated this topic in the museum galleries. They've dedicated an entire section to the history of the museum and its collections, building around it a precise narrative that aims at helping visitors in better understanding objects and collections during their visit to the museum. Understanding museum history means to better comprehend museum collections. That's absolutely an innovative approach to the topic of museum history!
Do you have any advice for future PhD students?
As a DL student, I suggest visiting the School at least once a year to stay in touch with other PhD students and the staff. Great opportunities to meet people in the School are research weeks, which are also excellent ways to have thought-provoking debates on your research topic. Building a network of people in your research field is also very important for your research and for you as a researcher. You can do it by participating to as many conferences as possible - always keeping a focus on your research field and not taking part randomly to any conference you may know of! Last but not least, stay in touch with your supervisors and always keep them updated on the progress of your research.
To find out more about Anna Tulliach's work, click through here: atulliach.wordpress.com