Three and a half months ago we welcomed researchers from around the world to Groningen for our workshop, ‘Woodworking in the Roman Imagination’. In organizing this event, our team was interested in probing how wood and woodworking were imagined, represented, and conceptualised in Roman culture. Together during the workshop we asked: What did woodworking mean in the Roman world?
Over the course of two days, our colleagues shared their fascinating research, addressing the many ways in which people engaged with and thought about woodworking in the Roman world. These talks were distributed among four thematic panels (‘From tree to timber’; ‘Wooden agencies’; ‘Mediating woodworking in vernacular practice’, and ‘Woodworking and Literary practice’). Our keynote speakers Roger Ulrich and Carole Newlands capped each daily program by presenting their lectures: ‘Pulcher in Ligno: Did the Romans Value Wood as Beautiful?’ and ‘Writing with Wood’, respectively, which were at once stimulating and thematically unifying for our event. You can see the full program details here.
We’d also like to highlight one of our favourite aspects of the event: the whittling workshop, led by local artist and educator, Yoka Koopmans. In this practicum, we were able to enjoy hands-on experience in cutting, carving, and (notably) struggling with a variety of fresh green and dry woods. Under Yoka’s expert guidance we began to make connections between practical engagements with wood and some of the more theoretical questions about ancient craft which we had centred in the seminar room (connections which are of central interest for the FACERE project!). It was a valuable meditative and informative session amidst fantastic research papers and lively discussion.
We’re grateful to our colleagues for sharing their insightful questions and conclusions on human–wood interactions in ancient literary, papyrological, and archaeological media.
We also wish to thank everyone who contributed to and attended our workshop, and heartily look forward to the next event!
