Quoting name: Susana S. Martins
Professional Category: Assistant Professor (NOVA FCSH); Researcher
Positions within IHA: Board Member – Director | SC Member | RG Member [Museum Studies]
Thematic areas: Photography, Museum Studies, Art History, Cultural Studies, Visual Culture
Contact: susana.martins@fcsh.unl.pt
CIÊNCIA ID: 4C11-AA90-22D5
ORCiD: 0000-0002-7504-9832
Scopus Author ID: 56579791200
Webpage: sites.google.com/site/susanamsmartins/
Biography
Susana S. Martins is Director of the IHA – Institute of Art History and Assistant Professor in Contemporary Art and Museology at NOVA FCSH, where she also co-directs the MA Programme in Art History and Museology.
She holds a PhD in Photography and Cultural Studies from KU Leuven (Belgium; supervised by Jan Baetens), and her research explores the intersection of photography, museology, and exhibition practices. Within museum studies, she has addressed exhibitions histories, virtual heritage, and the revival of historical immersive media, including cosmoramas and related exhibitionary dispositifs. In the field of photography, her work focuses on the relationships between images, exhibitions, and print cultures, with particular attention to photobooks, city portraits, travel imagery, and world expositions. She has published on these topics in peer-reviewed journals and edited volumes.
At the IHA, she is also a member of the Museum Studies research group, which she led between 2020 and 2025. At the Associated Laboratory IN2PAST, she is part of the themed line ‘LT3 Museums, Monuments and their Collections’, which she co-coordinated between 2023 and 2026.
She teaches and supervises in the fields of museum studies, history of photography, contemporary art, and nineteenth-century visual culture. She has participated in several FCT-funded research projects, including Curiositas: Peeping Before Virtual Reality. A Media Archaeology of Immersion Through VR and the Iberian Cosmoramas (as Co-PI, 2022–2026), and is currently a team member of the project What They Saw / What We See: Women Photographers in Portugal, 1860–1920.
Prior to her academic career, Susana S. Martins gained professional experience in museums and has since collaborated extensively with a range of cultural institutions. She recently co-curated the exhibitions Narratives of the Self: Between the Public and the Private. Books by Women Artists in the Art Library (Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, 2024) and The Cosmorama in Lisbon: Virtual Travels in the Nineteenth Century (Cinemateca Portuguesa – Museu do Cinema, 2025). She also serves on the scientific committee of the Iberian Forum for Museum Studies, and is a member of the International Panorama Council.
[PT]
Susana S. Martins é Directora do IHA – Instituto de História da Arte e Professora Auxiliar em Museologia e Arte Contemporânea na NOVA FCSH, onde actualmente co-coordena o Mestrado em História da Arte e Museologia.
Doutorada em Fotografia e Estudos Culturais pela KU Leuven (Bélgica; sob orientação de Jan Baetens), a sua investigação situa-se na intersecção entre fotografia, museologia e práticas de exposição. No âmbito dos estudos museológicos, tem abordado histórias de exposições, património virtual e reactivação de formas imersivas históricas, incluindo cosmoramas e dispositivos expositivos relacionados. No campo da fotografia, o seu trabalho centra-se nas relações entre imagens, exposições e culturas impressas, com especial atenção a livros fotográficos, ‘city portraits’, imaginários de viagem e exposições universais. Tem publicado sobre estes temas em diferentes revistas científicas e volumes editados.
No IHA, é membro do grupo de investigação Museum Studies, que dirigiu entre 2020 e 2025. No Laboratório Associado IN2PAST, integra a linha temática ‘LT3 Museus, Monumentos e as suas Coleções’, que co-coordenou entre 2023 e 2026.
Leciona e orienta nos campos da museologia, da história da fotografia, da arte contemporânea e da cultura visual do século XIX. Enquanto investigadora, tem participado em diversos projetos de investigação, incluindo os mais recentes, financiados pela FCT: ‘Curiositas: Espreitar antes da Realidade Virtual. Uma arqueologia dos media imersivos através de RV e dos Cosmoramas Ibéricos’ (como co-PI, 2022–2026), e ‘O que elas viram / O que nós vemos. Mulheres Fotógrafas em Portugal, 1860–1920” (2025-2026).
Com experiência profissional em museus, Susana S. Martins tem colaborado com diferentes instituições culturais. Recentemente, foi co-curadora das exposições Narrativas do Eu: entre o público e o privado. Livros de artistas mulheres na Biblioteca de Arte (Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, 2024) e O Cosmorama em Lisboa: as Viagens Virtuais no Século XIX (Cinemateca Portuguesa—Museu do Cinema, 2025). Integra o comité científico do Fórum Ibérico de Estudos Museológicos e é membro do International Panorama Council.
(data supplied by the researcher)
Abbreviations:
SC – Scientific Council
RG – Research Group