Hassan Vawda

Hassan Vawda is a researcher, writer, and policy maker whose work explores the role of religion, belief, and spirituality in modern and contemporary art institutions. His research focuses on developing approaches to programming, audience engagement, and governance that address the harmonies, tensions, and questions that arise between art and religion.

He is currently a Relationship Manager at Arts Council England, the UK’s national public arts funding body, where he founded and chairs the Multi-Faith Staff Network. He is also completing an Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)-funded PhD at Tate and Goldsmiths, University of London, examining how British modern and contemporary art museums engage with religion, belief, and secularism through the experiences of Muslim communities and the framing of Islam. Previously, he has curated and produced projects, programs, consultancy, and research for institutions including Tate, INIVA, Barbican, National Trust and Kettle’s Yard, as well as collaborated with faith groups, community organizations, and local authorities on cultural and heritage initiatives. He was the Lead Engagement Officer for the Mayor of London’s Commission for Diversity in the Public Realm, working on contested heritage, public art, and the representation of statues and memorials across London. In 2017, he was awarded the Aziz Foundation Scholarship in Applied Anthropology and Community Development at Goldsmiths.