Saba Zavarei

Dr. Saba Zavarei is a Visiting Research Fellow at the University College London (UCL) Institute of Advanced Studies (IAS) from 1 October 2024 to 30 September 2025. At the intersection of performance studies and human geography, her practice-based research examines how bodies interact with public spaces through socially-engaged, site-specific, and placemaking projects.

• Research Focus: Gender and space, protest art, citizen agency in urban transformation
• Region Specialization: Iran, Middle East
• Methodology: Interdisciplinary approach combining performance studies, human geography, and feminist geography

Her forthcoming monograph with Cambridge University Press analyzes how women in Iran use transgressive performances to reshape societal norms. During her fellowship, she will investigate migration, cities, and everyday performances, focusing on Iranian women abroad and their political interventions through art.