Zahra is an art historian of the Islamic world and a research associate at the Centre of Islamic Studies, University of Cambridge. She specializes in the art and architecture of the premodern period, with a focus on Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. Her main interests include calligraphic and epigraphic patterns, ideas of perception and consumption of material culture, and medieval social and popular imaginations, especially related to medicine, magic, and mysticism.

Sondos Shehadeh is a PhD student in the Faculty of Education. When she is not working on her research, she is illustrating, writing and exploring all that brings her wonder!

Nasreen Bawa has called Cambridge home for over 45 years — a place where she studied and built a successful career in senior management. Cambridge continues to inspire her love of learning, as do the research projects she participates in with the University of Cambridge (including the Botanic Wisdom project), drawing her to the wonders of the natural and spiritual worlds, and the beauty of the Arabic language.

Dunya Habash is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge. Her research explores the intersection of aesthetics, belonging, and the role of sonic and visual arts in postconflict and displacement educational settings.

Before retiring very recently, Chris worked as a project administrator at Cambridge University.

Sa’adiah is a multi-disciplinary, intuitive & community artist from Cambridge. Combining her interests in psychology, sustainability, philosophy, spirituality & play with her art, she uses techniques such as experimental abstract painting, paisley art & printmaking on various (often functional) surfaces. She upcycles furniture/household waste items, creates earrings of inter-connection, as well as traditional canvas art & murals.

An experienced GP and trainer working in the East End of London, Shanaz is aspiring to learn more about holistic approaches to health, especially from the rich scholarship and practices of the Islamic world.

Nazia is a Financial Economist who is interested in Islamic art and civilisation.

Arya has a deep interest in exploring the relationship between the natural landscape and medicine through an Islamic lens, and in how this knowledge is translated across the Muslim world.

Olivia is an artist and educator, whose passion is to use art to foster creativity, empathy, and engagement within educational, museum and gallery spaces. With a strong academic background and practical experience in fine art, art education, art history, and visual culture studies, she is committed to promoting meaningful public engagement with the arts and creating opportunities for collaboration and creativity across diverse communities.