Periodic Reporting for period 1 - MOOVA (Making Old Objects Valuable Again. The Cultural, Economic Challenges and Sustainability Opportunities of Antiques in the 21st Century)
Período documentado: 2023-09-01 hasta 2026-02-28
Antiques are second-hand cultural goods that are omnipresent yet often marginalized. Too “old-fashioned” to be trendy and too “ordinary” to be museum-worthy, they occupy an uncertain space between art and everyday life. These objects, however, hold multiple values, reflecting past tastes, craftsmanship, and daily experience. Nowadays, their market value is paradoxically lower than that of mass-produced goods, in a context marked by the closure of antique shops, the rise of online platforms, the passing of older generations, and shifting lifestyles and tastes.
MOOVA, a project led by six interdisciplinary researchers (a PI, three PhD candidates, and two postdoctoral fellows), aims to show why antiques deserve renewed attention today. Combining heritage studies, cultural economics, psychology, and marketing—and focusing on representative categories (Delftware, Murano glassware, tapestries, antique furniture, and Val Saint Lambert crystalware) across five countries (Belgium, the Netherlands, France, the UK, and Italy)—the project explores antiques’ heritage value through the role of dealers as guardians of informal heritage (WP1); their economic value through analyses of market structures, business models, and price determinants (WP2–3); and their perceived value, by studying how younger generations (Gen Z) engage with antiques (WP4). Through these four work packages, it aims to propose new models for re-evaluating old objects in contemporary society (WP5). MOOVA’s goals are to show why low-end antiques matter today—by helping us rethink how they contribute to cultural heritage, sustainability, and local economies development.
Website: https://www.moova-erc.eu/(se abrirá en una nueva ventana)
MOOVA, a project led by six interdisciplinary researchers (a PI, three PhD candidates, and two postdoctoral fellows), aims to show why antiques deserve renewed attention today. Combining heritage studies, cultural economics, psychology, and marketing—and focusing on representative categories (Delftware, Murano glassware, tapestries, antique furniture, and Val Saint Lambert crystalware) across five countries (Belgium, the Netherlands, France, the UK, and Italy)—the project explores antiques’ heritage value through the role of dealers as guardians of informal heritage (WP1); their economic value through analyses of market structures, business models, and price determinants (WP2–3); and their perceived value, by studying how younger generations (Gen Z) engage with antiques (WP4). Through these four work packages, it aims to propose new models for re-evaluating old objects in contemporary society (WP5). MOOVA’s goals are to show why low-end antiques matter today—by helping us rethink how they contribute to cultural heritage, sustainability, and local economies development.
Website: https://www.moova-erc.eu/(se abrirá en una nueva ventana)
After 24 months of research, the MOOVA team has achieved substantial progress across its work packages.
WP1 – Heritage Value. A Systematic Literature Review helped clarify the terminology used to describe heritage “on the margins,” leading to the concept of liminal heritage—a framework capturing the cultural and transformative value of ordinary antiques. In parallel, the team reviewed disciplinary definitions of “antiques,” emphasizing processes such as heritagization and commercialization rather than the objects themselves. An eight-month multi-sited ethnography (Brussels, London, Paris, Amsterdam, Milan) revealed that generalist dealers in low-end markets engage in curatorial and care practices comparable to institutional heritage work. Analyses of online communities further confirmed the role of “informal expertise” in identifying and preserving under-documented antiques.
WPs2–3 – Economic Value. To assess antiques’ economic dimensions, both supply and demand sides were examined. Conceptual clarification of the “low-end market” led to a collective volume (Reassessing the Low-End Art Market, Palgrave Macmillan, forth.).
On the supply side, a mapping of antiques dealers at the city level confirmed the extensive representativity of this sector even in most remote areas. Qualitative research in Brussels highlighted the profession’s reliance on intuition and family-based expertise, while identifying key challenges—digitalization, mainstream competition, and evolving consumer behavior. Five innovative business models were also identified—platformization, artification, experience economy, rental/leasing, and circular/social economy—often driven by non-traditional actors such as waste-management companies. The analysis of 57 online sales platforms showed how traditional business models are transposed online, with tailored strategies to manage uncertainty and reputation. Further work explores 22 platforms through multilevel analyses and reputational features of art market platforms and informational challenges faced by users.
On the demand side, analysis of specialized press revealed that ordinary antiques align more with consumption than collecting, consistent with circular-economy principles. A circular model tailored for antiques (Refuse, Reduce, Restore, Reuse, Refurbish, Repurpose, etc.) was developed. A cross-country survey also identified second-hand habits, cultural practices, environmental concern, and early exposure as key predictors of antiques consumption, while education and income showed no significant effect. Price analyses of Murano glassware, Delftware, tapestries, and Val Saint Lambert crystalware confirmed that antiquity, use value, and proximity to production centers significantly influence prices, and highlighted a critical market decline post-pandemic.
WP4 – Perceived Value. We developed an empirical field protocol using eye-tracking to analyze how Gen Z perceives antique stores (REMIND method). Conducted in summer 2025 in a Brussels-based antiques store, the study produced valuable perceptual data, currently under analysis.
This collective work has led to participation in 32 academic events, 2 published papers, 2 book chapters, 1 conditionally accepted paper, and several works under review, including the edited volume. Each work package critically integrated theories and methodologies from heritage studies, finance/economics, and psychology, facing and addressing expected epistemic and transdisciplinary challenges. Among the project’s main achievements are the forthcoming publication of the collective volume, the near-finalization of data-sharing agreements with major online sales platforms (a significant step given the market’s confidentiality), and the team’s active participation in two major European policy groups: the European Commission Expert Group on the Dialogue with the Art Market and the ENCATC Working Group on Art Markets and Cultural Goods Integrity.
WP1 – Heritage Value. A Systematic Literature Review helped clarify the terminology used to describe heritage “on the margins,” leading to the concept of liminal heritage—a framework capturing the cultural and transformative value of ordinary antiques. In parallel, the team reviewed disciplinary definitions of “antiques,” emphasizing processes such as heritagization and commercialization rather than the objects themselves. An eight-month multi-sited ethnography (Brussels, London, Paris, Amsterdam, Milan) revealed that generalist dealers in low-end markets engage in curatorial and care practices comparable to institutional heritage work. Analyses of online communities further confirmed the role of “informal expertise” in identifying and preserving under-documented antiques.
WPs2–3 – Economic Value. To assess antiques’ economic dimensions, both supply and demand sides were examined. Conceptual clarification of the “low-end market” led to a collective volume (Reassessing the Low-End Art Market, Palgrave Macmillan, forth.).
On the supply side, a mapping of antiques dealers at the city level confirmed the extensive representativity of this sector even in most remote areas. Qualitative research in Brussels highlighted the profession’s reliance on intuition and family-based expertise, while identifying key challenges—digitalization, mainstream competition, and evolving consumer behavior. Five innovative business models were also identified—platformization, artification, experience economy, rental/leasing, and circular/social economy—often driven by non-traditional actors such as waste-management companies. The analysis of 57 online sales platforms showed how traditional business models are transposed online, with tailored strategies to manage uncertainty and reputation. Further work explores 22 platforms through multilevel analyses and reputational features of art market platforms and informational challenges faced by users.
On the demand side, analysis of specialized press revealed that ordinary antiques align more with consumption than collecting, consistent with circular-economy principles. A circular model tailored for antiques (Refuse, Reduce, Restore, Reuse, Refurbish, Repurpose, etc.) was developed. A cross-country survey also identified second-hand habits, cultural practices, environmental concern, and early exposure as key predictors of antiques consumption, while education and income showed no significant effect. Price analyses of Murano glassware, Delftware, tapestries, and Val Saint Lambert crystalware confirmed that antiquity, use value, and proximity to production centers significantly influence prices, and highlighted a critical market decline post-pandemic.
WP4 – Perceived Value. We developed an empirical field protocol using eye-tracking to analyze how Gen Z perceives antique stores (REMIND method). Conducted in summer 2025 in a Brussels-based antiques store, the study produced valuable perceptual data, currently under analysis.
This collective work has led to participation in 32 academic events, 2 published papers, 2 book chapters, 1 conditionally accepted paper, and several works under review, including the edited volume. Each work package critically integrated theories and methodologies from heritage studies, finance/economics, and psychology, facing and addressing expected epistemic and transdisciplinary challenges. Among the project’s main achievements are the forthcoming publication of the collective volume, the near-finalization of data-sharing agreements with major online sales platforms (a significant step given the market’s confidentiality), and the team’s active participation in two major European policy groups: the European Commission Expert Group on the Dialogue with the Art Market and the ENCATC Working Group on Art Markets and Cultural Goods Integrity.
Our analyses confirmed the project’s main initial assumptions, with several findings standing out beyond the state of the art.
Result #1. Ordinary antiques lie at the intersection of consumer goods, crafts, decorative arts, and junk. To capture this ambivalence, the project introduced the concept of liminal heritage—locally rooted cultural goods that remain active and hold transformative potential through reuse and repurposing. Mapping results also show that in many remote areas, local antiques dealers often act as the sole cultural providers where institutions are absent. Though rarely self-identified as such, their role in preserving objects, histories, and values highlights the private sector’s contribution to heritage safeguarding and supports the case for targeted public recognition.
Result #2. Platformization, long regarded as an opportunity for market revival, is instead undermining the value of the ordinary antiques market. Our analyses show sharp price declines across all categories of objects studied. Once valued domestic assets, these items have lost much of their economic worth, accelerating the erosion of family heritage. Yet paradoxically, online sales platforms continue to proliferate, and the online antiques market appears less an autonomous entity than a digital transposition of existing physical business models.
Result#3. The most innovative approaches to antiques revival now arise not in the art market but in the waste and circular economy. Among others, waste management companies reimagine antiques as durable, creative resources aligned with sustainability goals. This shift suggests that the future of antiques lies in hybrid models bridging culture, economy, and ecology—where the role of traditional market actors remains to be defined.
Result #1. Ordinary antiques lie at the intersection of consumer goods, crafts, decorative arts, and junk. To capture this ambivalence, the project introduced the concept of liminal heritage—locally rooted cultural goods that remain active and hold transformative potential through reuse and repurposing. Mapping results also show that in many remote areas, local antiques dealers often act as the sole cultural providers where institutions are absent. Though rarely self-identified as such, their role in preserving objects, histories, and values highlights the private sector’s contribution to heritage safeguarding and supports the case for targeted public recognition.
Result #2. Platformization, long regarded as an opportunity for market revival, is instead undermining the value of the ordinary antiques market. Our analyses show sharp price declines across all categories of objects studied. Once valued domestic assets, these items have lost much of their economic worth, accelerating the erosion of family heritage. Yet paradoxically, online sales platforms continue to proliferate, and the online antiques market appears less an autonomous entity than a digital transposition of existing physical business models.
Result#3. The most innovative approaches to antiques revival now arise not in the art market but in the waste and circular economy. Among others, waste management companies reimagine antiques as durable, creative resources aligned with sustainability goals. This shift suggests that the future of antiques lies in hybrid models bridging culture, economy, and ecology—where the role of traditional market actors remains to be defined.