LONDON.- The Courtauld Institute of Art and the Iran Heritage Foundation are delighted to announce funding for a postgraduate and Research Assistant post with a focus on Persian arts. This new role is one of a series of positions created as part of the Iran Heritage Foundation’s new programme of developing strategic partnerships with major academic and cultural organisations.

The Courtauld Institute of Art is seeking to embed, promote and expand its increasing interest in, and focus on, Persian art and architecture within both its curriculum and external programming. In 2013 the Institute launched a new MA in Art History, Persian Painting and Transcultural Visuality: from the Mongols to the Safavids, taught by Dr Sussan Babaie. This is a new field of study at The Courtauld and one which the Institute is fully committed to developing.

The Iran Heritage Foundation funding supports an MA student who has the dual role of being a Research Assistant dedicated to helping Dr Babaie promote Persian art and architecture studies at The Courtauld and within the broader visual arts community, as well raising public awareness of the field. The first Iran Heritage Foundation (IHF) Research Assistant and Courtauld Scholar (IHF RA/Scholar) 2013/14 is Natasha Morris who intends to further her area of research at the Courtauld at PhD level into the study of masculinities in the visual arts of Iran focusing on the Qajar era (1794-1925).

Vahid Alaghband, Chairman of Iran Heritage Foundation, said: “This is an extraordinary and rare opportunity for The Courtauld and the Iran Heritage Foundation to partner in mutual pursuits, as Dr Babaie is the only formally appointed position in the UK (and one of only a handful in Europe ) that is dedicated to Persian arts”.

Professor Deborah Swallow, Märit Rausing Director of The Courtauld, who was previously Keeper of the Asian Department at the Victoria and Albert Museum, said: “This generous grant from the Iran Heritage Foundation will further The Courtauld’s and the Foundation’s mutual aim to preserve and promote the study of Persian art and architecture for future generations. The introduction of this new course is a major step forward for The Courtauld with our intention to offer a global outlook on art and its histories”.