Dr. Karina Pawlow
Affiliated Researcher, Lise Meitner Group Coded Objects
Karina Pawlow is an art and visual historian. At the conclusion of her doctoral fellowship with the Lise Meitner Research Group “Coded Objects” (August 2024—January 2026) she completed her PhD at the University of Cologne with highest honors (summa cum laude). Her dissertation, “Pantenly Clever People. Murano Glass Art between Tradition and Innovation, fama and Secrecy,” examines the dynamic interplay of artistic practice, technical knowledge, and cultural strategies in Venetian glassmaking.
During her research stay in Florence, she conducted a comparative study of drawings within Venetian and Florentine courtly contexts, demonstrating how glass functioned not only as a material for producing exceptional objects but also as a conceptual tool that expanded imaginative possibilities on paper.
Since February 2026, she has been a postdoctoral researcher and lecturer at Saarland University. She remains affiliated with the “Coded Objects” group while expanding her research on glassmaking as a spatial practice that continues to shape the urban and social fabric of Venice to this day. This project has been awarded the RSA Samuel H. Kress Fellowship in Art History (2026–2027).
Another area of her research focuses on the analogue and digital production of (moving) images. She investigates how technical tools and digital platforms shape visuality, structure perception, and constitute visual publics.
- Early modern art, with a focus on materials, technologies, artist networks and institutions
- Dining cultures, courtly feasting and spectacles
- Films in cinematic and post-cinematic conditions
- Image-based social media