Biography
I am a Venezuelan and Polish heritage researcher trained in archaeological, anthropological, historical, and ethnographic methods. I received a B.A. from Leiden University College (2016), where my dissertation focused on the Guaiquerí identity on Margarita Island, Venezuela. In 2018, I completed my MPhil at the University of Cambridge with the topic of the Caquetío identity on Bonaire. Over three internship periods since 2019, I worked for the Government of Bonaire at the heritage desk and at the Museo Boneiru. For my PhD (2024) at the University of Cambridge I comparatively researched the islands of Trinidad, Margarita and Bonaire to better understand how Indigenous identities interacted with heritage distinctly in each island based on different colonial trajectories.
I am currently co-leading a research project into the history and identity of the Venezuelan Caribbean called Gente de Mar and engaged in heritage projects throughout the Southern Caribbean.
Research
My research interests centre on the intersections between heritage and identity in the Caribbean and Northern South America. I am especially interested in how present processes of heritage and identity formation, particularly Indigenous identities, are distinct and affected by different colonial histories. I am also interested in ethical research methods, such as art contests, in archaeology and heritage studies.
Since 2007, I have led and participated in various archaeological and anthropological fieldwork trips to islands in the Caribbean, including Los Roques, Margarita, Cubagua, Coche, Los Testigos, La Tortuga (Venezuela), Martinique, Trinidad and Tobago, and Bonaire.
Key Publications
Antczak, O. (2024) ‘Indigenous Identity, Gender and Colonialism in Bonaire’ in The Dutch Caribbean Gender Studies Handbook. Edited by R. M. Allen & S. Bala. Leiden: Brill Publishers.
Viejo Rose, D., A. Santikarn, O. Antczak, M. P.L. Pereira & I. Voulgareli. (2023-2024). Special Collection: ‘Heritage and Uncertainty.’ Global Perspectives. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Antczak, A. T., M. M. Antczak, & O. Antczak. (2024) ‘“Indios buenos, Indios malos” Historical Archaeology of Early Colonial Indigenous Identity Processes in the Southeastern Caribbean’ in Venezuelan Historical Archaeology. Current Perspectives on Contact, Colonialism, and Independence. Edited by Konrad A. Antczak, pp. 135-174. Leiden: Sidestone Press. DOI: 10.59641/r5588ud
Rodríguez Velásquez, F. & Antczak, O. (2023) ‘Nueva Cadiz de Cubagua and the Pearl Fisheries of the Caribbean’ in the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Latin American History. Edited by S. Webre. New York: Oxford University Press.
Santikarn, A., E. Doğan, O. Antczak, K. E. Ruf & M. P. L. Pereira (2022) ‘Rethinking the Archaeology-Heritage Divide’ in Rethinking the Archaeology-Heritage Divide. Edited by Santikarn, A., E. Doğan, O. Antczak, K. E. Ruf & M. P. L. Pereira, pp. 1-13. Archaeological Review from Cambridge 37.1. Cambridge: Victoire Press Ltd. ISSN: 0261-4332.
Antczak, A. T., M. M. Antczak & O. Antczak. (2019) ‘Rancherías: Historical Archaeology of Early Colonial Campsites on Margarita and Coche Islands, Venezuela’ in Material Encounters and Indigenous Transformations in the Early Colonial Americas. Edited by F. Keehnen, C. Hofman, & A. T. Antczak, pp. 146-174. Leiden: Brill Publishers. DOI: 10.1163/9789004273689_008
Antczak, O. (2018) Unpicking a Feeling: Interrogating the Role of Heritage in Indigenous Collective Identity Formation on the Caribbean Island of Bonaire (Masters Thesis). University of Cambridge: Apollo. DOI: 10.17863/CAM.31764.
Teaching and Supervisions
I am contributing teaching to: G22 Socio-Politics of the Past, G23 Heritage Management, G16/A34 Ancient North America and Mesoamerica, A13 The Past in the Present, and G24 Special Topics in Heritage Studies
Other Professional Activities
Emerging Scholars Forum - Global Perspectives
