The Bate Collection Welcomes Dr Emanuela Vai as New Head!

The Faculty is excited to announce that Dr. Emanuela Vai has been appointed as the new Head of the Bate Collection of Musical Instruments! In this pivotal role, she will lead efforts in conservation, research, and curatorial initiatives within the museum.

Dr. Vai brings an impressive international background, having held esteemed positions at the Centre for Renaissance and Early Modern Studies at the University of York, the University of Turin, and the University of Cambridge. She has also worked with the Centre d’études supérieures de la Renaissance de Tours, the Harvard Centre for Italian Renaissance Studies at Villa I Tatti, and the University of Oxford, as well as a range of museums throughout Europe. Her exceptional work has earned support from notable fellowships and grants, including those from the British Academy, the Society for Renaissance Studies, the Royal Historical Society, the Renaissance Society of America, and the Kress Foundation.

With research that lies at the vibrant intersection of art history, music, and material culture studies, Dr. Vai focuses on musical instruments, soundscapes, and the sensory experiences of Renaissance social life. She is currently crafting an intriguing book titled Fantastic Musical Instruments of the Global Renaissance.

In the past year, Dr. Vai has made significant strides, leading two major research projects funded by the EU Commission and UKRI. She has also recently received a SIF Innovation Fund at the University of Oxford, collaborating with Professor David De Roure at DiSc to explore how digital humanities tools can transform museum research and conservation.

I’m very excited to help drive cutting-edge innovation and research around Oxford’s world-leading collections of musical instruments. The Bate Collection is a unique resource within the national and international landscape, celebrating the history and development of musical instruments in a global context. The collection represents a stimulating opportunity to advance research on musical instruments, while fostering interdisciplinary and methodologically rich approaches to object preservation. I am looking forward to expanding opportunities amongst students by introducing teaching on music, space, material culture, and historical musical instruments within GLAM environments. The museum is an incredible asset for the Faculty and the University, where one could merge teaching, research, education, and the creativity of exhibitions in a naturally interdisciplinary way. I am keen to collaborate with colleagues from a variety of disciplines, as well as heritage professionals, researchers, the creative industries, and the public alike by developing new exhibition possibilities, and to explore novel approaches to museum practice in the post-digital era.

Dr Emanuela Vai is Senior Research Fellow and Head of Research (Humanities) at Worcester College. In the Faculty she leads on all conservation, research, and curatorial aspects at the Bate Collection of Musical Instruments. She is the founder and academic lead of the Digital Humanities and Sensory Heritage Network  at TORCH, an interdisciplinary team of scholars exploring how digital humanities tools can be leveraged to reconsider heritage and the senses. Dr Vai is also a Director (Humanities) at AISUK, with the aim of promoting research collaborations between European and British academic institutions and research centres in the public and private sector. She is a Member of ICOM-CIMCIM (International Musical Instruments Museums), a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, American Musical Instruments Association and the Renaissance Society of America, and a Trustee of many international music, architectural history, and museum societies.