Chief Executive’s Review - Year Ending December 2010

The year under review was marked by progress on continuing activities and the introduction of new initiatives.

Building on its previous academic Fellowships, IHF expanded its hallmark Institutional Partnerships Programme to consolidate long-term relationships with major universities and museums to finance academic posts in the study of Persian history, language and the arts. Our IPP partners include: Cambridge, Edinburgh and St Andrews universities, as well as the Victoria & Albert Museum, the British Museum and the Freer & Sackler Gallery at the Smithsonian in Washington.

IHF has stepped into the vacuum created by budget cuts, enabling its partner institutions to fund posts which may otherwise not be sustained. Through the IPP, IHF requires its partners to provide matching funds, thereby increasing the impact of IHF's funding. Partners are also required to make long-term commitments to the posts, adding longevity to these programmes with the aim of making them ultimately self-sustaining. Consistent with IHF's vision of the importance of digitisation, a brand new partnership is to be established with the British Library. This will enable scarce and invaluable archives and research material relating to Iran and the Persian world to be accessed at no cost by a worldwide audience of researchers, students and lay enthusiasts. This follows on from the Foundation's support for Golha, Flowers of Persian Song and Poetry, a major initiative to digitise Persian classical music and poetry from the famous radio programmes broadcast in Iran between 1956 and 1979.

IHF is also delighted to announce its agreement with the PARSA Community Foundation in California. PARSA has generously supported IHF's existing Institutional Partnerships and digitisation programmes and has also financed the first year of a new curatorial post at the British Library.

During the year, IHF facilitated the launch of a sister cultural charity, IHF America, which now enjoys full charitable status under US law. IHF America is planning to launch an Institutional Partnership Programme along the lines of the UK model, bringing US- and Canadianbased partner institutions into a common network and connecting it to the existing network in the UK.

In its first year, IHF will provide oversight to 14 institutional grants made by PARSA to major American universities and museums, some of which are expected to form the basis of future Institutional Partnerships for IHF America.

2010 also witnessed a full programme of cultural events, ranging from exhibitions of contemporary Iranian paintings to the highly acclaimed Shahnameh exhibition at the Fitzwilliam Museum in partnership with Cambridge University, celebrating the millennium of Ferdowsi's Shahnameh.

I join the Trustees in extending our gratitude to all IHF colleagues, supporters and volunteers for their dedication and commitment throughout the year. Special thanks go to Ladan Akbarnia, who served IHF brilliantly during her sabbatical and prior to moving to the British Museum.

Farad Azima
Acting CEO
FaradAzima@msn.com