Karen Barrett-Wilt - Madison, Wisconsin U.S.A.

Karen Barrett-Wilt is an art history blogger living in Madison, Wisconsin. She earned a Master of Arts degree in the History of Art and completed one year of PhD work which was enough to show her that an academic life was not for her. She loved what she studied, though – Islamic, Ancient Near Eastern, and Medieval art history – and her writing is geared toward making art history accessible and fun. She’s particularly interested in what art history can show us not just about the past, but our connections with it. Her career is now taking a slow turn toward editing which feels like where she should have been all along. You can read her blog at: www.artstuckinmyeye.com

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Evita Bookelmann - the Netherlands

Evita Bookelmann, graduated historian at the University of Utrecht. I have a Master's degree in international relations in historical perspective. At the moment I'm working at SUSA Studentagency as financial and administrative assistant.

I've always been interested in art and culture. In high school I took drawing, art history and cultural education. As a student I've taken a number of courses within the field of cultural history. I've worked as a volunteer at several film festivals (NFF and IDFA). I also have a museum pass and go to exhibitions on a regular basis.

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Nadya Bondoreff - Berlin, Germany

Nadya Bondoreff is a writer, English teacher, fledgling musician, failed rock star, and eternally-curious expat who likes to cause scandal by liberally criticizing her home country, Canada.  "Nationalism is for the feeble-minded, and Canada is an overrated scam" is her latest sentiment, essentially torching all her remaining bridges back in the Great White North while starting endless conversations in her chosen home of Berlin, Germany.  She has taught English in Costa Rica, Brazil, and South Korea, and still can't believe she hasn't been to Japan.  When not admiring all the fine art Europe has to offer, Nadya is a writer and editor for a grassroots documentary site at www.altdoc.ca, as well as her very own website, a showcase for her multidisciplinary dabbling, at www.nadyabe.com.  She has had pieces published in various online magazines, doesn't understand or write poetry, is on the first draft of her first nonfiction book, and has realized far too late that finding and marrying a rich man is virtually impossible in Berlin.

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Tara Isabella Burton - London, UK & Tbilisi, Georgia

Tara is pursuing doctoral research in theology and the arts at the University of Oxford. She has previously written for The Forward-Thinking Museum, and Metrowize. Her fiction and creative non-fiction have previously been published in Relief, Amoskeag, The Orphan Leaf Review, SubtleTea, Babel Anthologies, All Rights Reserved, and Imagine. In 2010 she was the first runner-up in the London Fringe Short Fiction competition. She lives between Oxford, England, and Tbilisi, Georgia.

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Irina Gusin - New York, U.S.A.

Irina Gusin is a writer / culture-detective living in Brooklyn, in New York City. She is currently Director of External Affairs at a gallery in one of the city's burgeoning art neighborhoods. Most recently Irina lived in Rome where she wrote about fashion for the online magazine Runway Passport, and made her way through the Eternal City's churches, gardens, and museums. Being back in her hometown of New York, Irina spends her time searching out exciting art exhibits and events, underground wine bars, and the perfect panna cotta to remind her of her days in Italy.

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Jacques Nagelkerke - the Netherlands

Jacques Nagelkerke  kreeg de belangstelling voor kunst en cultuur toen hij begin jaren zeventig de opleiding volgde aan de Pedagogische Akademie. De studie van de kunstgeschiedenis en het bezoeken van tentoonstellingen maakte toen nog deel uit van een gedegen onderwijsopleiding. Daarnaast was hij zeer geïnteresseerd in de plaatselijke geschiedenis, schreef enkele boekjes over een  molen en over een klooster in zijn dorp. Ook kwam hij in aanraking met de historie over Vincent van Gogh, die in zijn dorp Etten-Leur heeft gewoond en daar het zaad voor zijn carrière zaaide. Zijn hele levensverhaal boeide hem zeer. Met verhalen heeft hij meer dan dat alleen, hij werkte enkele jaren als freelance medewerker voor een plaatselijke huis-aan-huiskrant. Naast het onderwijs is hij werkzaam geweest in de zakelijke dienstverlening, met name de re-integratie.

Hij werkt momenteel aan een Nederlandse vertaling van een bekroond kinderboek dat zijn neef Bill in Nieuw Zeeland schreef. Jacques bezoekt tentoonstellingen en musea in Nederland en België, maar probeert ook tijdens buitenlandse vakanties de nodige culturele indrukken op te doen.  

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Boudewijn Meijer - the Netherlands

Boudewijn Meijer is founder and driving force behind the Kunstpedia Foundation, with a professional background in executing assignments in the field of SME development for multilateral organisations. His affection for the fine and decorative arts started when he bought his very first piece at the age of eight, an Akan Goldweight for just a few cents.

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Catherine Rierson - Paris, France

Catherine Rierson graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a Bachelor's in Journalism and Mass Communication, as well as Comparative Literature.  While she was never formally educated in the field of Fine Arts,Comparative Literature, and its interdisciplinary approach to literature, has granted her the ability of broad critical analysis, as well as instilled in her an impassioned appreciation for the arts.  She currently lives in Paris, France, working as an editorial assistant at the contemporary photography magazine, Lens Culture.

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Jessie Rodgers - London, UK

She is a young Brit, currently studying a BA in Criticism, Communication and Curation at Central Saint Martin’s College of Art and Design in London, where she has also completed a Foundation Degree in Fine Art. She’s worked as an assistant to the Korean artist Jeong Hwa Choi, for the curator and writer Beatrice Galilee, contributed performance art to Jeremy Deller’s recent exhibition ‘Joy in People’ at the Hayward Gallery, and has worked at Camden Arts Centre.

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Tess Amodeo-Vickery - Rome, Italy

Tess Amodeo-Vickery lives and writes in Rome, Italy, where she is the European Fashion Director for Runway Passport (www.runwaypassport.com). Recently, Tess wrote and edited documentary shooting treatments for National Geographic Television and Discovery Channel US. She has written for The Nashua Telegraph, The Milford Cabinet, Examiner.com, and was recently featured in Romeing Magazine and InRomeNow.com. Her undergraduate thesis, When In Rome, earned her University Honors from Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, where she completed her B.A. in Classical Civilization. Tess has studied ancient culture, architecture and art history in Rome extensively since being selected to attend the Intercollegiate Center for Classical Studies in Rome ("ICCS") in 2005, a program run by Duke University that facilitates on-site study of Classical, Renaissance and Baroque art.

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Dave Di Vito - Rome, Italy

Dave Di Vito is an Australian born curator and writer who now lives in Rome.  After taking courses in Visual Arts and Photography, he switched allegiances towards Art History and Archaeology and went on to complete his Masters in Art Curatorship at the University of Melbourne.  Dave has lived in various cities in Australia, Japan and Europe, and used his experience and love for Asian Art as the springboard to opening his own contemporary gallery in Melbourne.
 
Now focusing on his writing, and on improving his Italian (which needs every bit of help possible), Dave is getting to grips with life in Rome where he more than occasionally indulges in his love of pizza, photography and contemporary art.

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Jennifer Walker - Madrid, Spain

Jennifer Walker is an Anglo-Hungarian writer living in Madrid, Spain. After a sordid past involving a PhD in Nuclear Physics, she decided to throw caution to the winds and live the cliché of being an expat writer who teaches English on the side. Her writing credentials involve travel pieces about Venetian cemeteries and Spanish tapas for gadling.com, and culture and travel topics in Madrid with a Jewish twist for the audience on jspace.com. She is active in the Madrid literary community, writing for the expat newspaper InMadrid and organising the monthly International Literary Cabaret and a participant in the forthcoming Poetry Brothel. One of her big interests is of course, art – predominantly art from the early 20th century especially the Surrealist, Dadaist and Cubist movements.

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