Khadija Zinnenburg Carroll is a Professor in the Department of Historical Studies at Central European University (CEU), where she leads the ERC-funded project REPATRIATES: Artistic Research in Museums and Communities in the process of Repatriation from Europe . She previously served as Professor and Chair of Global Art History at the University of Birmingham, now holding an Honorary Chair there. Her interdisciplinary work bridges art history, colonial critique, and artistic practice. Her research focuses on colonial history, repatriation, museum studies, post-colonialism, migration, and the intersections of art and science. She explores how visual and material culture mediate historical and political tensions, particularly in contexts of displacement and conflict. Her fields include sensory ethnography, architectural heritage, ecological art, and non-European ontologies. She has curated major international exhibitions and produced films shown at the Venice Biennale, Marrakech Biennale, and other prominent venues. Her recent scholarly and artistic output centers on repatriation, colonial botany, indigenous knowledge, and the politics of memory. Themes across her publications and artworks include the restitution of cultural objects, the legacies of colonial exploration, and artistic interventions in institutional narratives. She examines how classification, display, and archival practices reflect and challenge power structures. British Academy Newton Fellowship Humboldt Foundation Grant Sackler-Caird Award Carroll advises cultural institutions and serves on international project advisory boards and doctoral examination panels. She is a lead editor of Third Text: Critical Perspectives on Contemporary Art and Culture , where she has shaped discourse through special issues and the Third Text Forum. Her ERC project supports a team of researchers across Europe and in Namibia, Nigeria, Mexico, and Australia, fostering transnational collaboration. She has secured funding for large-scale research that has led to documentaries and co-created conferences with institutions like the Tate and the Royal Anthropological Institute. She leads the REPATRIATES project and has established long-term partnerships with museums and arts organizations such as TB21. Her Embassy Embassy and Botanical Drift projects exemplify her integration of research, curation, and artistic practice in architectural and ecological contexts.
