Sarikhani Fellow Researches 19th-Century Iranian Architectural Scrolls at Victoria and Albert Museum

Hamid Abhari, an architect and project manager from Tehran, completed a six-week Sarikhani Fellowship at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London during summer 2025. His research focused on the Mirza Akbar Drawings, a collection of 19th-century Iranian architectural scrolls originally from Qajar Tehran. The scrolls were acquired by the South Kensington Museum in 1877 from Caspar Purdon Clarke, who collected them while working in Tehran. Abhari's journey to London was delayed due to travel restrictions from Tehran, requiring him to travel overland to Turkey before flying to London, arriving on July 5. During his fellowship, Abhari studied the drawings under the guidance of Dr. Fuchsia Hart, the Sarikhani Curator for the Iranian Collection. He conducted a seminar titled 'From Paper to Brick' explaining the principles of karbandi vault construction and led a hands-on drawing workshop for V&A colleagues. Abhari also visited the Sarikhani Collection, viewing significant Iranian artworks including a Sasanian bronze bust and Shahnameh folios. He met with Dr. Mark Morris, Senior Curator of Architecture, to discuss potential display of the Mirza Akbar Drawings in the museum's Architecture Gallery. The fellowship represents the first Sarikhani Fellowship at the V&A, supported by the Sarikhani Foundation, and builds on Abhari's previous collaboration with the museum dating to 2013, including work on the Epic Iran exhibition in 2021.