Dr Olga Nefedova is an art historian specialising in the Orientalist art movement and former director of the Orientalist Museum in Doha, Qatar. She received her PhD from the Russian Academy of Arts in Moscow.  She has worked for many years with private and government collections and museums in the Far East, South Africa, the Middle East and the Gulf countries. Her projects include the following international exhibitions and publications: “The Art and Life of Jean-Baptiste Vanmour (1671 – 1737),” “A Journey into the World of the Ottomans” (2010), “Bartholomäus Schachman (1559 – 1614): The Art of Travel” (2012) and “Heritage of Art Diplomacy: Memoirs of an Ambassador” (2013). Olga is one of the organisers of the “Orientality” series of international biannual conferences (launched at Pembroke College, Cambridge University, 2013). Presently she is an Associate Professor at the National Research University HSE, Moscow.

Her current research project “Art and Artists Crossing Borders: The Early History of Art Education for Arab Students in the Soviet Union between 1959 and 1979” focuses on the early history of art education of students from Arab countries in the USSR. Parts of this research have been presented at international conferences and public seminars such as The Arts in Society (American University, Paris, 2017); World Congress of Middle Eastern Studies (University of Seville, 2018); and Cultural Diplomacy of Socialism in the 20th Century: Institutions, Actors, Discourses (Deutsches Historisches Institut, Moscow, 2019).