Azadeh Fatehrad

Azadeh Fatehrad is a Professor of Art and Public Policy, leading the Empowered and Inclusive Places Research Theme at the Kerslake Institute (People and Place Research Centre). An interdisciplinary scholar, Professor Fatehrad's work bridges public policy, ethnography, and artistic practice.

With a blend of research, artistic, and curatorial practices, Fatehrad explores the complexities of societal integration and migrant homemaking. Her extensive participatory research, developed in collaboration with diverse communities across the UK, Sweden, and Denmark, addresses the nuanced dynamics of integration. Her recent Nature-Based Integration Project (2022-2024), funded by The British Academy and The Nuffield Foundation, investigates the role of natural environments (green and blue spaces) in fostering community cohesion among long-term residents and migrant communities, showcasing her commitment to impactful societal change.

As an artist and curator, Professor Fatehrad's practice spans still and moving images, fictional stories, short films, and artist books. Her work has been exhibited internationally at venues such as the Royal Academy of Art (London), Weltkulturen Museum (Frankfurt am Main), Somerset House (London), Index: The Swedish Contemporary Art Foundation (Stockholm), Lychee One Gallery (London), The Barn Gallery (Oxford), Gotland Museum (Sweden), Beaconsfield Contemporary Art, and Design Biennale 2022 (London) among others.

Her curatorial projects have been featured across Europe and the Middle East, including at Maraya Art Centre (Sharjah), Framer Framed (Amsterdam), Moderna Museet (Stockholm), Institute for Contemporary Art, Goethe Institute, Close-Up Film Centre, and The Showroom (London) among others. She co-founder of ‘Herstoriographies: The Feminist Media Archive Research Network’ in London.

Professor Fatehrad has undertaken diverse projects across Europe and the Middle East, including at the Warburg Institute in London (Iconography: The Representation of Hand Gestures), Archiv für Forschung und Dokumentation Iran (AFDI) in Berlin (National Unity of Women's Associations), the International Institute of Social History (IISH) in Amsterdam (Sediqeh Dowlatabadi's Archive), and the Feminist Library in London (Adventures in the Archives); Weltkulturen Museum, Frankfurt am Main (Scharf Belichted – Objects of Desire in an Ethnographic Collection), and the Institute for Iranian Contemporary Historical Studies (IICHS) in Tehran. Her projects have been positively covered by prominent media such as the New York Times, Financial Times, CNN, Euronews, Guardian, and British Journal of Photography, among others

Recognized for her contributions, Prof. Fatehrad has been awarded national and international research fellowships at the Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities (KWI) in Essen for her project "The Politics of Aesthetics: Verbal and Non-Verbal Communication in Artistic Research," as well as fellowships at The Warburg Institute, London, and as St John's College Artist in Residence, University of Oxford.

For more information, visit www.azadehfatehrad.com.