Sara Wajid

Sara Wajid
MBE
OccupationBirmingham Museums Trust co-CEO
Known forFounder of Museum Detox network
Academic background
Alma mater
Academic work
InstitutionsBirmingham Museums Trust

Sara Wajid MBE is a British Pakistani journalist,[1] cultural commentator and museum director, who is the co-CEO of Birmingham Museums Trust and the founder of Museum Detox.[2][3][4] She is the first British Pakistani museum director in the UK.[5]

Education

The daughter of a first-generation Pakistani immigrant to Britain,[6] Wajid studied English at the University of Sussex from 1991 to 1994.[7] She went on to receive an MA in Comparative Literature (Africa/Asia) from SOAS University of London in 1995 and received training from the National Council of Training for Journalists in 1999.

Career

She was a freelance arts journalist, writing for national newspapers, journals and literary magazines including The Guardian, New Statesman, Prospect, Times Higher Education, Mslexia, Wasafiri, Museums Journal, Local Government Chronicle, Times Educational Supplement,[8] and the Black Media Journal, of which she was editor (1999–2000).[9][10]

Wajid first worked in museums in 2010 at the Royal Museums Greenwich, where she moved from leading the Adult Learning Programmes to becoming the Public Programmes Manager, then Senior Manager in 2016.[11] She received her MA in Learning & Visitor Studies in Museums & Galleries at the University of Leicester in 2017. During this time she was Head of Interpretation at the Birmingham Museums Trust, and in 2018 she became the Head of Engagement for the Museum of London's New Museum, securing funding to unlock the museum's oral history collection.[12][13] She became co-CEO with Zak Mensah of Birmingham Museums Trust in 2020, a position she currently holds.[3]

Wajid co-founded the Museum Detox Network in 2014, a network for people of colour who work in museums, galleries, libraries, archives, and the heritage sector.[14] This network has grown to more than 400 members. Museum Detox champions fair representation and the inclusion of cultural, intellectual, and creative contributions from POCs. Wajid was awarded an MBE in 2019 for services to culture and diversity.[15]

Wajid served as a judge in the 2021 Museums + Heritage Awards [11] and the Museum Activism Award 2021–22.

Wajid is a trustee on the Board of Visitors for the Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford.[16]

Wajid received an honorary degree in February 2024 from the University of York in recognition for her career in museums and heritage and for her work with Museum Detox.[17]

Awards

  • Recipient of the Arts Council Changemakers Award
  • 2024: awarded an Honorary Degree from University of York.[17]

Selected publications

Wajid, S., & R. Minott (2019). "Detoxing and decolonising museums", in Museum Activism (pp. 25–35). Routledge.

References

  1. ^ Suterwalla, Shehnaz H (January 2013). From Punk to the Hijab: British women's embodied dress as performative resistance, 1970s to the present (PDF) (Thesis). Royal College of Art. Retrieved 19 May 2025.
  2. ^ "Directors | Birmingham Museums". www.birminghammuseums.org.uk. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
  3. ^ a b Adams, Geraldine Kendall (23 February 2021). "Q&A | 'The prospect of doing it alone lacked joy': Sara Wajid and Zak Mensah on leadership, breaking barriers and job-sharing in a crisis". Museums Association. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
  4. ^ "@MuseumDetox challenging culture". Reboot History. 12 November 2018. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
  5. ^ Wajid, Sara (2 April 2024). "Learning from Birmingham's approach to workforce diversity". museumsassociation.org. Retrieved 19 May 2025.
  6. ^ Wajid, Sara (2 April 2009). "Don't fetishise religious identity | 'The NHS was far more important to my practising Muslim father him than any religious institution". New Statesman. Retrieved 19 May 2025.
  7. ^ Vowles, Neil (14 June 2019). "Birthday honours' joy for Sussex staff and alumni". The University of Sussex. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  8. ^ "Sara Wajid joins judging panel at this year's Museums + Heritage Awards". Museums + Heritage. 18 November 2018. Retrieved 19 May 2025.
  9. ^ Wajid, Sara. "The Black Media Journal Experience" (PDF). lse.ac.uk. Retrieved 19 May 2025.
  10. ^ Zakiya (22 October 2020). "A few Black British journalists and journalism | Black Media Journal". artsandcultureexeter.co.uk. University of Exeter. Retrieved 1 July 2025.
  11. ^ a b Trust, Image: © Birmingham Museums (18 November 2021). "Sara Wajid joins judging panel at this year's Museums + Heritage Awards". Museums + Heritage Advisor. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
  12. ^ "Two's good company". Saxton Bampfylde - Global Executive Search & Leadership Consulting. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
  13. ^ Hunt, Tristram (29 June 2019). "Should museums return their colonial artefacts?". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
  14. ^ "Collaborating for Change: New Partnership with Museum Detox". The RSA. 18 April 2018. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
  15. ^ Finch, Emily (14 June 2019). "Sara Wajid's MBE for recording the capital's culture club". Camden New Journal. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
  16. ^ "Board of Visitors". www.prm.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  17. ^ a b "Honorary Graduates". york.ac.uk. University of York. 2024. Retrieved 19 May 2025.
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