Deborah Anne Swallow (born 27 August 1948) is a British educator,

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

curator A curator (from , meaning 'to take care') is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the particular ins ...

and academic. From 2004 to 2023, she was Märit Rausing Director of

The Courtauld Institute of Art The Courtauld Institute of Art (), commonly referred to as The Courtauld, is a self-governing college of the University of London specialising in the study of the history of art and conservation. The art collection is known particularly for ...

and its Gallery; she was its first female Director. She previously worked at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

and the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

. Alongside education and curation, she is a proponent of the broadest possible appreciation of art and its histories, and a specialist in Indian art and anthropology.

Early life and education

Swallow was born on 27 August 1948. She was educated as a scholarship student at the

Perse School for Girls The Stephen Perse Foundation is a family of private schools in Cambridge and Saffron Walden for students aged 1 to 18. The Foundation is made up of: - 3 nurseries (2 in Cambridge and 1 in Saffron Walden, Essex) for ages 1–5. - 2 Junior S ...

, a

private school A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a State school, public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their fina ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, Cambridgeshire. She took her MA in English literature at

New Hall, Cambridge New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

(now Murray Edwards College). A year teaching in India was formative for her interest in the arts, culture and religion of the Subcontinent. Returning to Cambridge, she undertook a PhD in

social anthropology Social anthropology is the study of patterns of behaviour in human societies and cultures. It is the dominant constituent of anthropology throughout the United Kingdom and much of Europe, where it is distinguished from cultural anthropology. In t ...

Darwin College Darwin may refer to: Common meanings * Charles Darwin (1809–1882), English naturalist and writer, best known as the originator of the theory of biological evolution by natural selection * Darwin, Northern Territory, a capital city in Australia, ...

, based on further fieldwork in

Orissa Odisha (), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is a state located in Eastern India. It is the eighth-largest state by area, and the eleventh-largest by population, with over 41 million inhabitants. The state also has the thir ...

. In 1977, she completed her

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

degree with a

thesis A thesis (: theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: D ...

entitled ''Living Saints and their Devotees: a Study of

Guru Guru ( ; International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ''guru'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian religions, Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: tr ...

Cults Cults are social groups which have unusual, and often extreme, religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals. Extreme devotion to a particular person, object, or goal is another characteristic often ascribed to cults. The term ha ...

in Urban Orissa''.

Career

Deborah Swallow began her career at the

. From 1974 to 1983, she was an assistant curator at the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. She was additionally a

lecturer Lecturer is an academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. They may also conduct re ...

Girton College, Cambridge Girton College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was established in 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon as the first women's college at Cambridge. In 1948, it was granted full college status by the un ...

, from 1975 to 1980, and a

Fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

Darwin College, Cambridge Darwin College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded on 28 July 1964, Darwin was Cambridge University's first graduate-only college, and also the first to admit both men and wo ...

from 1975 to 1983. In 1983 she joined the

's Indian department, overseeing the creation of the Nehru Gallery of Art and a series of major exhibitions on the arts of the Subcontinent, before becoming Keeper of a newly formed Asian Department and Director of Collections in 2001.Professor Deborah Swallow Märit Rausing Director.
The Courtauld Institute of Art, 2013. Retrieved 19 April 2013
Archived here.
/ref> In 2004, she was appointed Director of

. She was appointed

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

in 2008. As leader of The Courtauld, Swallow is a champion of Samuel Courtauld's founding vision, summarised as 'art for all'. She is a champion of a fully inclusive form of

art history Art history is the study of Work of art, artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Tradit ...

, embracing artistic production from all cultures and eras and promoting broad access for art to be understood and enjoyed by everyone. Throughout her career at The Courtauld, she has sought to open its offer through decolonising the curriculum,

outreach Outreach is the activity of providing services to any population that might not otherwise have access to those services. A key component of outreach is that the group providing it is not stationary, but mobile; in other words, it involves meetin ...

programmes, touring loan

exhibitions An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery, park, library, exhibition ...

and a commitment to

widening participation Widening participation (WP) in higher education can be a component of government education policy. It consists of an attempt to increase the number of young people entering higher education, and improve equality of opportunity for students from al ...

higher education Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...

and

. On Tuesday 26 April 2022, Professor Deborah Swallow announced her intention to retire from her directorship of The Courtauld once a suitable replacement had been appointed. Swallow stepped down as Director at the end of July 2023, and was replaced by Mark Hallett. As educator and scholar, Professor Swallow is active as a speaker, lecturer, specialist advisor and contributor to journals. She is a Fellow of

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

, a Trustee of Asia House, Trustee of the Helen Hamlyn Trust, founder Trustee of the Nehru Trust for Indian Collections in the V&A, and a former Trustee of

Art Fund Art Fund (formerly the National Art Collections Fund) is an independent membership-based British charity, which raises funds to aid the acquisition of artworks for the nation. It gives grants and acts as a channel for many gifts and bequests, as ...

. She has written and spoken on contemporary art, women in leadership, women collectors and 19th-century colonial art. Her specific research interests are in Indian art from around 1850 to the present with particular interest in Indian textile history and the history of heritage and museums in colonial and

post-colonial Postcolonialism (also post-colonial theory) is the critical academic study of the cultural, political and economic consequences of colonialism and imperialism, focusing on the impact of human control and exploitation of colonized people and thei ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. Since 2022 she is the President of the

Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland The Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland (RAI) is a long-established anthropological organisation, and Learned Society, with a global membership. Its remit includes all the component fields of anthropology, such as biolo ...

. Swallow was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE) in the

2023 Birthday Honours The 2023 King's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms of King Charles III to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as part ...

for services to art and education.

Selected publications

*"Production and control in the Indian garment export industry", in E. N. Goody (ed.), ''From Craft to Industry: the Ethnography of Proto-industrial Cloth Production'', Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1982, pp. 133–165. *"The Arts of the Sikh Kingdoms: Collaborating with a Community" (with Eithne Nightingale), in Laura Peers and Alison K Brown (eds.), ''Museums and Source Communities'', Routledge, London, 2003, pp. 55–71. *"The Victoria & Albert Museum and its Asian Collections", in Louis Mezin (ed.), ''The Heritage of the East India Companies in European Museums and Public Collections'', Cahiers de la Compagnie des Indes, no 5/6, Port Louis, 2000. *"The India Museum and the British-Indian textile trade in the late nineteenth century", ''

Textile History ''Textile History'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal first published in 1968 and published by Maney Publishing on behalf of the Pasold Research Fund. It covers "aspects of the cultural and social history of apparel and textiles, as well as iss ...

'', 30 (1), 1999, pp. 29–45. *"Colonial architecture, international exhibitions and official patronage of the Indian artisan", in Tim Barringer and Tom Flynn (eds.), ''Colonialism and the Object: Empire, Material Culture and the Museum'', Routledge, London, pp. 52–67. *"Curzon's ivory chairs at Kedleston: a puzzle of patronage in Anglo-Indian furniture" (with Amin Jaffer), ''

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

'' (April 1998), pp. 35–39. *''The Arts of India: 1550–1900'' (edited with John Guy), London, Victoria and Albert Museum, 1990.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swallow, Deborah Living people British art historians Directors of the Courtauld Institute of Art Alumni of New Hall, Cambridge 1948 births British women art historians Fellows of Darwin College, Cambridge People educated at the Perse School for Girls Alumni of Darwin College, Cambridge Fellows of King's College London British women curators Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Presidents of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland Fellows of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland