Personal Presentation

Diana Felícia is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Heritage Sciences and Techniques at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Porto and a researcher at CITCEM - Centre for Transdisciplinary Research on Culture, Space and Memory, in the Tangible and Intangible Heritage Group.

She holds a degree in Art History (2017), a Master's degree in Art History, Heritage and Visual Culture (2019) and a PhD in Heritage Studies - Art History (2025) from the Faculty of Arts of the University of Porto, she developed her doctoral thesis "Uma janela" para "a vida em tempos idos". A Companhia Industrial de Fundição (Gondomar-Porto) e a produção de ferros artísticos e ornamentais (1895 a 2024) [‘A window’ to ‘life in times gone by’. The Industrial Foundry Company (Gondomar-Porto) and the production of artistic and ornamental ironwork (1895 to 2024)], with a grant from the FCT. Her master's thesis De Campanis Fundentis: A fábrica de Fundição de Sinos de Rio Tinto [De Campanis Fundentis: The Rio Tinto Bell Foundryi] was awarded the Dr. Vasco Valente Decorative Arts Prize in 2019.

Her research interests focus on the history of contemporary art, with a particular focus on decorative and applied arts, industrial heritage, artistic casting (iron and bronze) and traditional goldsmithing. Material culture, craft techniques, the history of contemporary architecture and urbanism, as well as the dynamics between tradition and modernity in the Portuguese industrial context are central areas of her academic work.

Diana Felícia was part of the research and preparation team for the application of Gondomar Filigree to Intangible Cultural Heritage (National Inventory), coordinated by Professor Ana Cristina Sousa, classified in 2023. She was also responsible for digitising the archive of the Companhia Industrial de Fundição (CIF), available on the Arquiv@ platform of Património Cultural I.P., and coordinated several virtual exhibitions on the Google Arts & Culture platform, contributing to the communication and digital mediation of heritage.

She has been a lecturer in the University Studies Programme for Seniors at the University of Porto (PEUS) since 2021, where she has taught courses on Art History, Decorative Arts and the urban heritage of Porto. She has supervised master's theses in the areas of art history, cultural heritage and visual culture, and is a member of academic assessment panels.

Her teaching activity focuses on the History of Classical Art, History of Classical and Contemporary Architecture, Applied Arts and Research Methodologies in Heritage. She regularly participates in national and international conferences, having presented papers at events such as the TICCIH Congress (The International Committee for the Conservation of the Industrial Heritage), the Architecture History Conference, the International Meetings on Historical Soundscapes, and various Ibero-American conferences on decorative arts and heritage.

Some publications:

FELÍCIA, Diana. "Da Paiva & Irmão à CIF: Cento e Trinta Anos de História da Fundição". Arqueologia Industrial VII 1 (2025): 56-72.

FELÍCIA, Diana. "Une fonderie séculaire au Portugal La Companhia Industrial de Fundição". Fontes 136 (2025).

FELÍCIA, Diana; BARROCA, Mário. "Apresentação. Arqueologia do Som". CEM 18 (2024): 5-16.

FELÍCIA, Diana; SOUSA, Ana Cristina. "Montres e devantures: las orfebrerías en Oporto y su relación con el espacio urbano". Laboratorio de Arte 36 (2024): 329-355.

FELÍCIA, Diana; CALISTO MARÇAL, João Miguel. "360º Virtual Tour at CIF: Territory, History and Technology". In Salvaguarda, Comunicação e Mediação Digital do Património Cultural, 83-97. Porto: CITCEM, 2024.

FELÍCIA, Diana. "Ferro fundido com alma de madeira. A carpintaria da Companhia Industrial de Fundição (CIF)". In Madeira, 129-148. Porto: DCTP - FLUP, 2022.

SOUSA, Ana Cristina; FELÍCIA, Diana. "Memory, gauges and defumos [pattern] books. The crafting of filigree jewellery in Gondomar, Portugal". In Centres and Peripheries in European Jewellery - From Antiquity to the 21st Century, 161-172. Porto: Universidade Católica Editora, 2021.

FELÍCIA, Diana. "As vozes do Milagre: O toque dos sinos no imaginário coletivo". In Ouvir e Escrever Paisagens Sonoras: abordagens teóricas e (multi)disciplinares, 199-216. Braga: CEHUM/ C.M. Braga, 2020.

FELÍCIA, Diana. "Em nome de quem os sinos dobram: a coleção de carimbos da Fundição de Sinos de Rio Tinto". Revista Mvsev IV Série 24 (2020): 167-184.

SOUSA, Ana Cristina; FELÍCIA, Diana. "Uma indústria na aldeia. A génese da ourivesaria do Concelho de Gondomar, Portugal". In El Paraíso de Fura y Tena: estudios sobre la plata en Iberoamérica. De los orígenes al siglo XIX, 273-292. México: Edgard Blücher, 2019.

Areas of research:

• History of Contemporary Art
• Industrial Heritage
• Intangible Heritage
• Decorative and Applied Arts (artistic casting, wrought and cast iron, bell casting, goldsmithing)
• Historical Soundscapes
• Material Culture and Craft Techniques
• History of Contemporary Architecture and Urbanism
• Digital Communication and Mediation of Heritage