In 2020, Alina Heiremans (°1997) completed her Master degree in Medieval History at the National Research University Higher School of Economics in Moscow. In her MA thesis she focused on folklore motifs in marginal imagery of Flemish illuminated manuscripts and suggested that there was a strong connection between marginal imagery and popular culture, e.g. folk narratives and proverbs, as well as urban spectacle. During her MA studies, she did an Erasmus exchange program and spent a semester at University College Dublin (Ireland).

Since September 2021, Alina is a PhD candidate in Art History at the University of Leuven. In her doctoral research, supervised by Prof. dr. Lieve Watteeuw and Prof. dr. Barbara Baert, titled «Folklore Motifs in Flemish Marginal Art of the 13th – 15th Centuries», she explores the ideas on the relationship between folklore and marginal art, taking into account a number of  “marginal” media, such as misericord carvings and pilgrim badges.