Qaisra M. Khan
Biography
Qaisra M. Khan is a Curator of Islamic Art, specialising in the Arts of Pilgrimage. She holds a Law degree and an MPhil in Oriental Studies, both from the University of Cambridge. After several years in financial consulting, she moved into the field of history of art, completing a further MA in Islamic Art and Architecture from SOAS, University of London.
She has previously worked at the Museum of Islamic Art, Qatar and the British Museum as co-curator for the seminal exhibition Hajj: Journey to the Heart of Islam (2012) and has consulted on museum projects internationally. Since 2015, she has been curator of Hajj and the Arts of Pilgrimage at the Khalili Collection in London, the most important collection of its kind. Her publications include Hajj and the Arts of Pilgrimage (Assouline, 2022) and Hajj and the Arts of Pilgrimage: Essays in Honour of Nasser David Khalili (Gingko, 2023) and The Pilgrim’s Companion: The Khalili Anīs al-Hujjāj (Kulturalis, 2026).
She also co-curated William Morris and Art from the Islamic World (Yale, 2025), the first exhibition examining the influence of Islamic art on William Morris, a key figure in the Arts & Crafts Movement.
She has lectured widely and appeared on international broadcast platforms, contributing to the public and scholarly understanding of Islamic Art. She serves on the advisory board of History of Oriental Studies (Brill) and was included in The Muslim 500 (2025 and 2026 editions) in recognition of her contribution to Islamic arts and culture.
Educational Background
- 2009-2014: SOAS, University of London
MA History of Art & Archaeology, Near and Middle East (part time)
- 1999-2000: University of Cambridge, Magdalene College, Cambridge
MPhil Oriental Studies
- 1996-1999: University of Cambridge, Magdalene College, Cambridge
BA Hons. Law
Research Interests
Hajj and the Arts of Pilgrimage William Morris and Art from the Islamic World
Recent Publications
Hajj and the Arts of Pilgrimage
1. Khan, Q. M. (2026). The Pilgrim’s Companion: The Khalili Anīs al-Ḥujjāj. Kulturalis Publishing.
2. Khan, Q. M. (2026). ‘Threads of Pilgrimage: From Manchester to Mecca’. Journal of the Oriental Rug and Textile Society, June 2026.
3. Khan, Q. M. (2025). ‘The Transcendent Artisans: Textiles Made for the Masjid al-Haram’. In In Praise of the Artisan. Medina Publishing.
4. Khan, Q. M. (2024). ‘A Pop-up of the Great Mosque of Mecca’. In Prophets, Poets and the Scholars: The Collection of the Middle Eastern Library of Leiden University. Leiden: Leiden University Press.
5. Khan, Q. M. and Nassar, N. (eds.) (2023). Hajj and the Arts of Pilgrimage: Essays in Honour of Nasser David Khalili. Gingko.
6. Khan, Q. M. (2023). ‘The Cemeteries of Mecca and Medina’. In Khan, Q. M. and Nassar, N. (eds.), Hajj and the Arts of Pilgrimage: Essays in Honour of Nasser David Khalili. Gingko.
7. Khan, Q. M. (2023). ‘The Special Hajj Banknotes of Pakistan’. In Khan, Q. M. and Nassar, N. (eds.), Hajj and the Arts of Pilgrimage: Essays in Honour of Nasser David Khalili. Gingko.
8. Khan, Q. M. (2022). Hajj and the Arts of Pilgrimage. New York: Assouline.
9. Khan, Q. M. (2014). ‘Hajj & ʿUmra’. In Muhammad in History, Thought, and Culture: An Encyclopaedia of the Prophet of God. ABC-CLIO.
10. Khan, Q. M. (2013). ‘Souvenirs and Gifts: Collecting Modern Hajj’. In The Hajj: Collected Essays. London: The British Museum.
11. Khan, Q. M. (2011). ‘Journey of a Lifetime’. British Museum Magazine, no. 71, Winter 2011.
William Morris and Art from the Islamic World
12. Khan, Q. M. (2025). ‘Echoes of Islamic Art: William Morris & Christopher Dresser’. The Journal of William Morris Studies, Special Issue on Design.
13. Khan, Q. M. (2025). ‘Borrow and Distil: William Morris and Islamic Art’. In Arts and Crafts: Ideas that Shaped the World. Stockholm: Bokförlaget Stolpe.
14. Khan, Q. M. (2024). ‘Stories from the East: How William Morris was Influenced by Islamic Manuscripts’. Art UK, 2024.
15. Khan, Q. M. and Bain, R. (2024). ‘Peacocks and Tulips: The Influence of Art from the Islamic World in William Morris’s Patterns’. In Tulips and Peacocks: William Morris and Islamic Art. New Haven: Yale University Press.
16. Khan, Q. M. (2024). ‘Sharing Beauty: William Morris and Arts of the Islamic World’. In Tulips and Peacocks: William Morris and Islamic Art. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Other Links
https://qaisrakhan.wordpress.com
https://khalilicollections.org/collection-in-focus/
