Curator Middle East, Asian Department, Victoria & Albert Museum, UK curator responsible for te Arab World Collections at the V&A
I specialise in the Islamic Mediterranean, especially al-Andalus and the Maghrib, but more generally I am interested in material culture connections around the Mediterranean during the medieval period. I am interested in how people commission works of art and what messages they express through these commissions. Completed my DPhil at the University of Oxford (Oriental Institute) in 2002, supervised by Prof. Jeremy Johns. The title was “Articulating the Hijaba: ‘Amirid Artistic and Cultural Patronage in al-Andalus, circa 970-1010 AD”. I am now preparing this for publication. Interests range widely, and I am increasingly working to promote a more integrated role for the material culture of North Africa within the art history of the medieval Mediterranean – both through my own research and by providing forums for others.
