The San Diego Museum of Art announced Marika Sardar as the new Associate Curator of Southern Asian and Islamic Art. Sardar will begin her role on July 29, 2013.

Marika Sardar comes to the Museum with years of specialized experience in the arts of India and the Islamic world. After completing her doctoral dissertation at New York University’s Institute of Fine Arts with a concentration on the architecture of the Deccan and the fortified city of Golconda, Sardar joined the Department of Islamic Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

She served most recently as a Senior Research Associate at The Metropolitan and was instrumental in the installation of their new galleries for the Art of the Arab Lands, Turkey, Iran, Central Asia and Later South Asia. Additionally, Sardar participated in The Metropolitan Museum/Victoria & Albert Museum Curatorial Exchange as part of which she undertook research in London for a major upcoming international exhibition devoted to the arts of the Deccan.

Sadar will be the steward of the Museum’s Southern Asian and Islamic art collection, which includes the renowned Edwin Binney 3rd Collection. She will develop permanent collection installations and potential traveling exhibitions, in addition to conducting research, furthering scholarship, collaborating with colleagues and other curatorial work.

“From the outset, Ms. Sardar has impressed us with her intelligence and acumen, and the depth of her knowledge of Indian and Islamic art,” said Roxana Velásquez, Maruja Baldwin Executive Director of The San Diego Museum of Art. “We are honored to welcome such a distinguished colleague.”