Image credit: Farah Al Qasimi
The Department of Art History, Visual Art and Theory is excited to announce Sadia Shirazi’s appointment as an assistant professor (tenure-track), and a nominee for the Canada Research Chair (CRC). They specialize in modern and contemporary art from South Asia and its diasporas.
Sadia is a scholar, writer and curator. Their multi-disciplinary research focuses on transregional histories of modern and contemporary art and architecture across South Asia, the Indian Ocean, and its diasporas.
Department Head and Professor Joseph Monteyne extends his warm welcome: “Please join me in welcoming Dr. Sadia Shirazi to the Department of Art History, Visual Art and Theory. Professor Shirazi will play an instrumental role in re-vitalizing our department’s offerings in the history of South Asian art, architecture and visual culture. In addition, their extensive background as a curator of international contemporary art will bring much to the programs in Critical Curatorial Studies program and Visual Art practice. I would like to extend my welcome to Professor Shirazi, and on behalf of the department say that we look forward to learning more about their research and teaching activities!”
This term, Professor Shirazi is teaching the graduate seminar ARTH 555: Studies in South and Southeast Asian Art (Modern and Contemporary Art from South Asia).
“I am incredibly excited to be joining the Department of Art History, Visual Art & Theory. I look forward to sharing and developing my research, archival and curatorial projects with my new esteemed colleagues and students at UBC. As a newcomer to Vancouver, I am also interested in learning more about the campus, the city, and the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ/selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.”
Sadia was previously Curator, International Art at Tate Modern. She has also held positions as a Visiting Scholar and an American Council of Learned Societies, Postdoctoral Fellow in Transnational Asian Studies at Johns Hopkins University. From 2018 to 2021, they were Instructor of Curatorial Studies at the Whitney Museum of American Art’s Independent Study Program and taught at Cooper Union, The New School, and National College of the Arts. She has practiced architecture in America, Bahrain and Egypt. Sadia received a PhD in Art History and Visual Studies from Cornell University and a MArch from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Sadia has contributed essays to numerous catalogues, edited volumes and peer-reviewed journals including Panorama and The Journal of Curatorial Studies. Their art criticism has appeared in e-flux, Frieze, Bidoun, C Magazine, ArtForum and The Funambulist. Sadia is a recipient of the Andy Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant. Their current book project is a history of decolonial, feminist art that traces the journey of four artists across the Indian subcontinent, Indian Ocean, Japan, Europe and the United States during the second half of the twentieth century.
Sadia has exhibited work at Arika, the 16th Venice Architecture Biennial and the Devi Art Foundation. They are currently working on an audio documentary and counter-archive of The 02020 Project for Performance Space New York. As an independent curator, she has organized exhibitions and programs at venues including The Kitchen, Queens Museum, EFA Project Space and Khoj International Artists’ Association. Sadia has also served on juries and nominating committees, most recently as juror for the 7th edition of the Jameel Prize: Moving Images.
Installation view of Rasheed Araeen, Zero to Infinity, curated by Sadia Shirazi, Tate Modern, 2023. Photo © Tate (Lucy Dawkins).
