Supervisor: Professor Sussan Babaie
Funded by: The Courtauld Scholarship
Zahra Khademi is a Doctoral Researcher in art history with a particular interest in histories of collecting, the art of endowment (waqf), and the endowment of art in late medieval and early modern Iran. Her research examines how waqf documents, often viewed solely as legal or historical records, can be analyzed as evidence of a deliberate cultural strategy of collecting. Her work seeks to reveal how these endowments reflected a conscious aesthetic valuation and the procurement of objects with significant monetary and cultural worth, often for display in sacred Shi’a shrines of the Safavid period.
Previously, Zahra worked as a Curator cum Researcher at the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia and tenured as an Advisor and Cultural Heritage Expert at Iran’s Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts. She has curated, written and managed several exhibitions, catalogues and research projects, among them, are ‘Nowruz: Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in Twelve Nations’ (MCTH 2016), ‘Islamic Bookbinding’ (IAMM, 2017) and ‘Qajar Ceramics – Bridging Tradition and Modernity’ (IAMM, 2019).
Education
PhD student, History of Art, The Courtauld, University of London (2023 – present)
MA History of Art, The Courtauld, University of London
MA International Contemporary Art & Design Practice
Experience
- Research Assistant, The Courtauld, University of London
- Researcher cum Curator for Art of the Persianate World, Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia
- Advisor and Cultural Heritage Expert, Iran’s Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts
Publications and conference papers
- “History of Architectural Preservation in Iran and the Restoration of the Emamzadeh Yahya in 1361–63 Sh/1983–85.” Essay in The Emamzadeh Yahya at Varamin: An Online Exhibition of an Iranian Shrine, directed and edited by Keelan Overton, 33 Arches, 2024. Host: Khamseen: Islamic Art History Online.
- “Shahpour Pouyan: My Place is the Placeless”, exhibition review, in Immediations 20 (2023), pp. 118-12.
- Jung: Curating Idea-Things, Safavid Majmū‘a(s) and Jung(s): History, Philology, and Arts of the Book Conference (University of Oxford 3 December 2022)
- Qajar Ceramics: Bridging Tradition and Modernity. Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia, 2019. Project manager, Co-author of Chapter 1: Introduction and Chapter Two: Pottery; sole author of 63 catalogue entries.
- Al-Tibb: Healing Traditions in Islamic Medical Manuscripts. Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia, 2018. Researcher.
- Islamic Bookbinding. Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia, 2017. Co-Project manager, sole author of 25 catalogue entries.
- Nowruz: Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in Twelve Nations. Iran’s Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism, 2016. Co-author.
- Symbols of Power and Beauty. Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia, 2014. Researcher.
Exhibitions
- Qajar Ceramics – Bridging Tradition and Modernity (Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia, March – December 2019) Curator and Project Manager
- Art and Culture Festival: Iranian and Malaysian Islamic Calligraphy A collaborative event between IAMM and the Cultural Center, Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran (Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia,14th -22nd June 2017) Coordinator
- Islamic Bookbinding (Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia,May – December 2017) Co-curator
- The Path of Knowledge: IAMM Scholar’s Library (Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia, October 2014 – January 2015) Co-curator
- Tradition, Culture and Modernity: Contemporary Art from Turkey (Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia, December 2014 – January 2015) Co-curator
- Nun Wa Al Qalam: Contemporary Muslim Calligraphy (Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia, December 2013 – May 2014) Translator
Grants and Awards
- The Courtauld Scholarship, United Kingdom
- The Iranica Prize for Best MA Dissertation on a Persian or Iranian Topic
- Barakat Trust Grantee, United Kingdom
- Fifth International Kharazmi Youth Festival Award, Iran
