Zahra Khademi

Doctoral Researcher

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 early modern Iran. Specifically, she explore how waqf documents, traditionally regarded only as legal or historical records, can be analyzed as evidence of a purposeful 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 Candidate, 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

Exhibitions

Citations