Nancy Um

Art Historian

Woman in a purple shirt on a boat with her arm raised
Photograph by Simon Mwaniki, May 2023

Nancy Um is Associate Director for Research and Knowledge Creation at the Getty Research Institute. Her research program explores art, architecture, and material culture around the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea, and the Arabian Peninsula, with a focus on trade and cross-cultural exchange in the early modern era.

Read Writing from the Water: New Perspectives in Indian Ocean Art Histories

Open box holding blue and white bottles with silver caps
Chest with nine porcelain bottles, Rijksmuseum, NG-444

Publications

Woman standing with one arm raised in front of a golden curtain
Photograph by Simon Mwaniki, November 2022

Lectures and Conferences

css.php