Alicia Van Ham-Meert trained as an engineer, and then pursued a career in scientific archaeology. She holds a Master’s degree in Archaeological Sciences from Oxford University, and specialised in the development of non-destructive methods for studying ancient glass and metals during her doctorate at the KU Leuven. An expert in isotope analysis, she also worked on medieval wood for the production of glass from wood ash in the TIMBER project at the University of Copenhagen. She is also renowned for her interdisciplinary and collaborative approach to archaeology.

Continuing her research today, Alicia Van Ham-Meert is focusing on the historical and archaeological study of glass production in Stavelot Abbey, established in the mid-7th century. In studying the case of Stavelot, she is also looking at the history of glass on a local and international scale, through the analysis of glass samples recovered during excavations. This research uses advanced analytical methods to investigate these questions, and is based on an approach that integrates the study of history, archaeology and materials science.

In this study, particular attention is paid to the collection of raw materials with the aim of faithfully recreating medieval glass recipes. Alicia undertakes meticulous fieldwork to collect the quartz/sand and plant matter essential for glassmaking, using methods that are thought to have been used in the Middle Ages. Alicia then uses these materials to reproduce historical recipes for medieval glass, drawing on ancient texts, to better understand the processes of the time and their environmental impacts.

Clémentine Vaultier, a French artist based in Brussels, trained as a ceramist but is more passionate about the world of fire than the objects it can create. She explores how we produce, use and share heat, bringing together ceramics, performance and education around this element. By creating, collecting and rearranging technical, historical and archival material, and in dialogue with others, she weaves narratives around heat as an essential human need and a phenomenon in itself. She is an artistic assistant in the ceramics department at La Cambre and coordinates the transdisciplinary module ‘firing together here’, a position in which she opens up the collection stages to the ceramics community at La Cambre.