Zahra Babaei (b. 1996, Tehran, Iran)                                                                            

EDUCATION

2025–  Ph.D. Student, Visual and Cultural Studies (VCS), University of Rochester, NY
2025 M.F.A., Photography and Related Media, Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), NY
2020    B.A., Photography, Tehran University of Art, Tehran, Iran
2015 Diploma, Graphic Design, Masoumieh High School, Tehran, Iran

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

2023–2025       Assistant Archivist, Cary Graphic Arts Collection, RIT, NY
2024–2025       Teaching Assistant, Iranian Cinema, RIT, NY
2023–2024          Research Assistant, College of Liberal Arts, RIT, NY
May–Aug 2024   Teaching Assistant, Magnum Foundation’s Workshop, NY
2021–2022       Digital Media Curator, Dastan Art Gallery, Tehran, Iran

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS / SCREENINGS

2025 Group Screening, Queers on Screen, curated by Miruna Nica, Bucharest Pride, Romania
2025 Group Screening, Weirdo Visions & Radical Dreams, GRRL HAUS CINEMA, Berlin       2025 Exhibitor, SHARP 2025 Conference, University of Rochester, NY
2025 MFA Group Show, Another Look / It’ll Happen Again
2025 Group Show, Storyteller vs. Cupbearer, Delgosha Gallery, Tehran, Iran
2025 Showcase, Tropic Bound Book Fair, Miami, FL
2025 Group Exhibition, Issue #130: Inhabit, F-Stop Magazine (online)
2024 Showcase, Bazar Art Book Fair, Tehran, Iran
2023 Group Show, Portals, William Harris Gallery, Rochester Institute of Technology, NY
2022 Exhibitor, Art Dubai Digital, Dastan Art Gallery, Dubai, UAE
2024 Curatorial Assistant, La Grande Danse Macabre, RIT Cary Graphic Arts Collection 2018 Solo Performance, Paints, Ariana Art Hub, Tehran, Iran

PUBLICATIONS & FEATURES

2025 Featured Artist, Photoworks, UK
2025 Top 25 to Watch, The Lenscr=atch Student Prize
2025 Featured Artist, PhMuseum, Bologna, Italy
2025 Publication, Emerging Talents, IMA Magazine Vol. 43, Tokyo, Japan
Forthcoming 2026 Publication, InVisible Culture: A Journal for Visual Culture (peer-reviewed), Issue 40: Diffraction, Feb 2026 – creative work and artist statement

COLLECTIONS

My Two Bodies (artist’s book, editions 1, 2, 3 of 20)
Special Collections, Wesleyan University
Special Collections, DePaul University
Special Collections, Tufts University

Ghosts of Objects (artist’s book)
Acquired by Special Collections, Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD)

AWARDS, HONORS & SCHOLARSHIPS

2025 Photoworks Curatorial Mentorship
2025 People’s Choice Award, Neuro-Perceptions: Third Annual SSP, RIT, NY
2025 Honorable Mention, Fram Chair Award for Excellence in Applied Critical Thinking,
            Imagine RIT, NY
2025 Scholarship Recipient, John & Honorable Caroline Branch International Scholarship,
            RIT, NY
2025 Scholarship Recipient, William A. Reedy Memorial Scholarship, RIT, NY
2025 Scholarship Recipient, The Art of Photographic Bookmaking, La Luz Workshops
2017 Scholarship Recipient, Tehran University of Art, Iran

ARTISTS TALKS

2024 Guest Speaker, Iranian Cinema, Rochester Institute of Technology, NY
2024 Guest Speaker, Introduction to Visual Culture, Rochester Institute of Technology, NY

RESEARCH GROUPS & COLLECTIVES

2022–Present Member & Host, Reading Collective: Gender and Nationalism in Iran  2023–Present Member & Host, Reading Collective: Postcolonial Theory
2020 Translator, Re-In/De-Fusion – Postcolonial Research Initiative, Tehran, Iran, under Anoush Moazzeni