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About Lauren Fonto
I completed a Master's degree in Anthropology in 2020/21 at the University of Cape Town, where I looked at the different ways women take on leadership roles and form networks in the South African fisheries value chain. While studying that degree, and during my Honours degree (a one-year post-Bachelor's degree in South Africa), I was struck by the intangible heritage that permeated the lives of small-scale fishers in South Africa. In 2021, I volunteered with the salvage operation in the wake of the Jagger Library fire at the University of Cape Town. It was during this time that I became aware of the work of heritage conservation (also known as restoration). After two internships in book and paper conservation, I started my Master's degree in heritage conservation at the University of Pretoria in 2024. I'm currently a heritage conservation intern. In my spare time, I'm often gleaning everything I can about the wide world of heritage conservation through journal papers, webinars and online courses. I am also part of the Vernacular Architecture Society of South Africa, which has helped me increase my knowledge of historical buildings in South Africa. One of my favourite types of vernacular architecture so far are the corbeled houses of the Karoo region, which look fairly similar to southern Italy's "trulli" houses. I also work on improving my Italian and Mandarin Chinese language skills when I can.
NBN Episodes hosted by Lauren:
March 15, 2026
On the Edge
On the Edge: Endbands in the Bookbinding Traditions of the Eastern Mediterranean by Dr Giorgios Boudalis (Legacy Press, 2022). The term endbands desig…
February 7, 2026
A People's Church
A People's Church brings together a distinguished international group of historians to provide a sweeping introduction to Christian religious life and…
August 7, 2025
Cinematic Cairo
The relationship between the city and cinema is formidable. The images and sounds of the city found in movies are perhaps the only experience that man…
July 18, 2025
Conservation of Twentieth-Century Furniture
Conservation of Twentieth-Century Furniture (Routledge, 2024) provides comprehensive and accessible coverage of the materials and techniques that are …
April 19, 2025
Magic and Divination in Malay Illustrated Manuscripts
Magic and Divination in Malay Illustrated Manuscripts (Brill, 2015) offers an integrated study of the texts and images of illustrated Malay manuscript…
February 23, 2025
Recycling for Death
Today I talked to Kara Cooney about Recycling for Death: Coffin Reuse in Ancient Egypt and the Theban Royal Caches (American U in Cairo Press, 2024). …
February 2, 2025
China’s Heritage through History
China’s Heritage through History employs a longue durée approach to examine China’s heritage through history. From Imperial to contemporary China, it …
January 19, 2025
Miracles and Machines
Miracles and Machines: A Sixteenth-Century Automaton and Its Legend (Getty Publications, 2023) tells the singular story of an uncanny, rare object at …