Education
- PhD in Art History, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec (2019–2025) — Supervisor: Dr. Alice Ming Wai Jim
- MA in General History, University of Karachi (2014–2016)
- BA, University of Karachi (2011–2013)
Courses Taught
- ARTH 392 — Gender Issues in Art and Art History: The Personal and the Political in Womxn Art
- ARTH 391 — Art & Its Changing Contexts, Special Topic: Museums & Social Justice
- ARTH 300 — Methods in Art History (TA)
- ARTH 270 — Icons of Architectural History (TA)
- ARTH 396 — Art and Culture: Art and Sports/Play (TA)
- FFAR 250 — Keywords Reading the Arts Across the Disciplines (TA)
- ARTH 200 — Perspectives of Art History (TA)
Teaching Experience
- Concordia University: Part-time Faculty, Department of Art History (2023–2025)
- Concordia University: Workshop Facilitator, GradProSkills (2023–2025)
- Concordia University: Teaching Assistant, Department of Art History (2019–2025)
Biography
Dr. Varda Nisar is an art historian and researcher whose work examines museums, cultural institutions, and visuality in Pakistan and the broader South Asian diaspora, with particular attention to how militarization, nationalism, and social movements shape public memory. She completed her PhD in Art History at Concordia University, Montreal, under the supervision of Dr. Alice Ming Wai Jim, following an MA in General History from the University of Karachi. She was awarded the Concordia Public Scholars Fellowship, the Social Justice Center Graduate Fellowship, and served as a Scholar-in-Residence at the Centre for Oral History and Digital Storytelling.
Prior to her doctoral studies, Dr. Nisar spent nearly a decade working at the intersection of art, education, and public programming in Pakistan, notably as Head of Educational Programming for the Karachi Biennale (2017–2022) and as the founder of the Karachi Children’s Art Fest. She has curated exhibitions at FOFA Gallery and 4th Space (Concordia University), as well as ArtChowk the Gallery, Karachi. Her publications include peer-reviewed articles and book chapters on pedagogy, decolonial curatorial practice, and art historical education. She is also a co-founder of the Art History Decolonial Action Group (AHDAG) and formerly served on the executive committee of the South Asian Women’s Cultural Centre (SAWCC) in Montreal.
Research Interests
- Art History
- Museums and Cultural Institutions
- South Asian Visual Culture
- Public Memory and Nationalism
- Decolonial Curatorial Practice
- Museum Studies
- Visual Culture in Pakistan
- Art Education and Pedagogy
- Gender and Contemporary Art
- Oral History and Digital Storytelling
Selected Publications
- [Respondent] “Questionnaire on the Role of Syllabi, 2023–24,” in Lessons Learned? Transcultural Positions in Curating and Pedagogies, eds. Bentcheva, Koch, Juneja, Oesterreich (Berlin: ICI Berlin Press, forthcoming 2026)
- [Co-author] “Against the Grain: Teaching and Learning in Art History and Cultural Studies,” with Edith-Anne Pageot and maya rae oppenheimer, in Worlding Global Art History through Teaching (Berlin: ICI Berlin Press, 2026), 95–121
- [Co-author] “A Conversation with Ruby Chishti: Reflections on Gender, Trauma, Displacement, and the Futurity of Art in a Post-Pandemic World,” with Dr. Syed Kanwal, Asian Diasporic Visual Cultures and the Americas, 6(3), 2021: 275–286
- “A Study of Complexities and Contradictions within Pakistan National Monument, Islamabad,” in Prof. Vasant Shinde Felicitation Volume: Culture, Tradition and Continuity (2020): 803–813
- “Laying the Foundations: A Case Study of the Karachi Biennale 2017 Educational Program,” THAAP Journal 2019: Art, Tolerance and Democracy (2019): 95–106
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