Dr. Fani Gargova
Personal Details:
Since September 2024: Research Associate at the Leibniz Institute of European History (IEG)
2022-2024: Postdoctoral Researcher at the Buber-Rosenzweig Institute for Modern and Contemporary Jewish Intellectual and Cultural History, Goethe University Frankfurt
2020-2022: Postdoctoral University Assistant at the Department of Art History, University of Vienna
2019 PhD in Art History from the University of Vienna with a dissertation on the Central Synagogue of Sofia
2015-2017: Junior Fellowship at the IFK International Research Center for Cultural Studies University of Art and Design Linz in Vienna and IFK_Fellowship abroad at the Université Bordeaux Montaigne
2013-2015: Byzantine Research Associate at the Image Collections and Fieldwork Archives of Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Harvard University in Washington, DC
2003-2010: Master’s Studies in Art History with minors in Philosophy and Slavic Studies
2022-2024: Postdoctoral Researcher at the Buber-Rosenzweig Institute for Modern and Contemporary Jewish Intellectual and Cultural History, Goethe University Frankfurt
2020-2022: Postdoctoral University Assistant at the Department of Art History, University of Vienna
2019 PhD in Art History from the University of Vienna with a dissertation on the Central Synagogue of Sofia
2015-2017: Junior Fellowship at the IFK International Research Center for Cultural Studies University of Art and Design Linz in Vienna and IFK_Fellowship abroad at the Université Bordeaux Montaigne
2013-2015: Byzantine Research Associate at the Image Collections and Fieldwork Archives of Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Harvard University in Washington, DC
2003-2010: Master’s Studies in Art History with minors in Philosophy and Slavic Studies
Main research areas and research interests
Sound and acoustics in synagogue architecture
19th-20th century (Central) European synagogue architecture
Architecture and city planning in the nation building context in the Balkans
Representations of minority, alterity, and gender from a postcolonial perspective
Medievalisms, Byzantinisms, and Orientalisms in art and architecture
Historiography of art history
Art historical archives and photo archives
Digital humanities
Selected Publications
The Central Synagogue of Sofia: Westernization, Urban Change, and Religious Reform, Cologne 2024.
Popularizing Byzantine Architecture. The 1900 Paris World Exhibition, Balkan Nationalisms and the Byzantine Revival, in: Markéta Kulhánková/Przemysław Marciniak (Eds.), Byzantium in the Popular Imagination. The Modern Reception of the Byzantine Empire, London 2023, p. 11–31.
Situating Sephardi Spaces Between Vienna and the Balkans, Special Section im Leo Baeck Institute Year Book 67 (2022).
Marcus Ehrenpreis and the Literary Circle Misal, in: Renate Hansen-Kokoruš/Olaf Terpitz (Eds.), Jewish Literatures and Cultures in Southeastern Europe. Experiences, Positions, Memories, Vienna 2021, p. 47–62.
The Impact of Choir and Organ on Synagogue Architecture: Preliminary Thoughts on the Role of Musical Performance in Balkan Sephardic Communities, in: Liz James/Oliver Nicholson/Roger Scott (Eds.), After the Text: Byzantine Enquiries in Honour of Margaret Mullett, Abingdon/New York 2022, p. 328–350.