IRFAN ZUBERI
Delhi
Summary
Dynamic arts and cultural heritage professional with over 20 years of experience in digitization and archiving. Proven expertise in project management and metadata creation, exemplified by leading Saudi Arabia's inaugural systematic museum digitization project. Developed innovative digital infrastructures and achieved ISO certification for the National Cultural Audiovisual Archives initiative in India, preserving over 31,500 hours of audiovisual resources. Committed to enhancing the accessibility of cultural assets, ready to bring specialized knowledge and a collaborative approach to drive value for future employers.
Results-driven professional prepared for high-impact roles. Extensive experience in shaping business strategies and fostering innovation. Strong focus on team collaboration and achieving results, adapting to changing needs. Demonstrated expertise in strategic planning and team leadership. Experienced leader with strong background in guiding teams, managing complex projects, and achieving strategic objectives. Excels in developing efficient processes, ensuring high standards, and aligning efforts with organizational goals. Known for collaborative approach and commitment to excellence.
Professional researcher with commitment to high standards and delivering results. Extensive experience in conducting and analyzing scientific studies, contributing to significant advancements in various fields. Known for fostering team collaboration and adapting to evolving research needs, bringing critical thinking and problem-solving skills to forefront.
Overview
24
24
years of professional experience
Work History
Co-Founder and Chief Research Officer
NaadSaagar Archives and Documentation Society for South Asian Music
Delhi, India
02.2009 - Current
- Spearheaded the establishment of a digital archive for South Asian musical genres, sourcing and digitizing legacy collections from private musicians and enthusiasts while documenting repertoires and life history narratives, organizing curated concerts in collaboration with musicians, and working towards creating a web portal for systematic content dissemination.
- Led the Begum Akhtar Centenary Commemoration Project, celebrating and consolidating the legacy of the legendary musician Begum Akhtar, supported by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, which included three (3) commemorative festivals in Hyderabad, Bhopal, and Lucknow, alongside archival collection and digitization efforts, and the design and launch of the Begum Akhtar Web Portal. (2015)
- Conceptualized and directed research for the Haveli Sangeet documentary film project, producing meticulous audiovisual documentation of temple music traditions in Vrindavan, Mathura, Nathdwara, and Indore. Directed the feature-length documentary 'At His Lotus Feet: Haveli Sangeet Parampara,' submitted to the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts. (2015)
- Curated 'Sastra and Prayoga,' a two-day event at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), emphasizing the integration of theory and practice in North Indian classical music. (2013)
- Curated the three-day festival 'Ustad Rahim Fahimuddin Khan Dagar Memorial Programme' at IGNCA in remembrance of the Dhrupad maestro's first death anniversary. (2012)
- Oversaw the audiovisual section of the weeklong exhibition 'Delhi Public Library Rewinds: A Saga of Times Gone By' at Rabindra Bhawan, Delhi. (2010)
- Orchestrated concerts featuring twenty-one (21) musicians across various vocal and instrumental North Indian classical music genres, collaborating with Jnana Pravaha Centre for Cultural Studies and Research, Varanasi, and India International Centre, Delhi. (2012-2019)
- Sourced analog collections from numerous prominent figures in the classical music field for digitization, including Ustad Rahim Fahimuddin Khan Dagar, Shri Akhilesh Mithal, Pandit K. G. Ginde, Ustad Vajahat Hussain Khan, and others. (2010 onwards)
Digital Transformation Advisor
Museums Commission
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
10.2024 - 11.2025
- Operationalized and oversaw the Kingdom's inaugural systematic digitization and documentation project for museum objects.
- Devised a comprehensive metadata schema, ensuring alignment with the digital infrastructure teams at the Ministry of Culture.
- Collaborated actively with vendors to support the Digital Documentation Department.
- Directed the documentation project with a stringent focus on quality deliverables and adherence to timelines.
- Engineered a coding and classification model encompassing various typologies and subtypologies of artefacts within the collections.
- Supervised the preparation of detailed guidelines covering all aspects of the digital documentation workflow, including mechanical cleaning, digital photography, metadata creation, packaging, and permanent tagging of collection items.
- Monitored the KPIs of the Digital Documentation Department to align with the strategic performance indicators of the Museums Commission.
- Managed the digital documentation project deliverables in sync with the timelines of new museum openings across the Kingdom, ensuring alignment with priorities.
- Facilitated discussions with external stakeholders and vendors for the establishment of robust digital infrastructure to manage the Museums Commission's digital assets.
- Ministry of Culture, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Project Manager
Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA)
Delhi, India
08.2014 - 03.2025
- Oversaw the comprehensive project implementation of the first national initiative for establishing National Cultural Audiovisual Archives (NCAA).
- Championed efforts to identify and preserve the country's cultural heritage available in audiovisual form across governmental and non-governmental institutions as well as private collections, through systematic metadata creation, digitization, and online dissemination of archival resources via a dedicated web portal.
- Established capacity-building initiatives in audiovisual archiving by organizing training programs to cultivate a proficient workforce.
- Achieved recognition for the initiative as the world's first ISO 16363:2012 certified Trustworthy Digital Repository, following a three-stage audit conducted by Primary Trustworthy Digital Repository Authorization Body Ltd., United Kingdom.
- Identified thirty (30) unique governmental and non-governmental audiovisual repositories and successfully onboarded them as Partnering Institutions of the initiative.
- Formulated digitization standards in compliance with guidelines set by the International Association for Sound and Audiovisual Archives, customizing the Dublin Core metadata standard for use by the initiative.
- Developed and instructed a course on 'Digital Preservation,' an essential component of a yearlong diploma in Cultural Informatics, approved by the All-India Council for Technical Education.
- Instituted systems for digitizing over 31,500 hours of audiovisual resources across eleven (11) analog formats while establishing a digital preservation platform for access-quality content, ensuring long-term public access capabilities.
- Facilitated the establishment of a dedicated web portal, featuring nearly 30,000 hours of digital audiovisual resources accompanied by structured metadata, along with relevant physical condition assessments and quality check reports for digitization.
- Instituted systems for the long-term preservation of archival-quality content on LTO tapes within two geographically distinct seismic zones.
- Implemented two (2) national-level training programs for personnel from the Partnering Institutions associated with the initiative.
- Oversaw the creation of a detailed intellectual property rights advisory to enable access to legacy audiovisual recordings in the public domain.
- Conducted a comprehensive all-India scoping survey of institutional and individual holdings of culturally significant audiovisual resources, identifying over 300,000 hours of resources in nearly 300 institutions across twenty-one (21) cities.
- Ministry of Culture, Government of India
Project Lead
Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA)
Delhi, India
06.2022 - 06.2024
- Oversaw the cataloging and documentation of the complete collection of the National Crafts Museum & Hastkala Academy, preparing it for online hosting.
- Spearheaded the development of a customized metadata template for the documentation of the collection, adhering to the Dublin Core schema used by cultural institutions globally.
- Created a repository of reference and resource materials on the diverse traditions of Indian crafts and textiles.
- Collaborated with subject experts and domain specialists to guide the team on the specificities and uniqueness of the museum collection.
- Managed the creation of an online Inventory Module, enabling the documentation team to submit object photographs and corresponding metadata seamlessly through review, verification, and publication processes.
- Digitized the complete set of Project Reports commissioned by the museum since its inception to enrich the metadata creation process for the collection.
- Ministry of Culture, Government of India
Project Manager
Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA)
Delhi, India
01.2018 - 01.2020
- Directed the comprehensive project implementation of the Sangam Music mobile and web application.
- Facilitated the selection of archival content encompassing classical, folk, and popular music genres.
- Devised a metadata schema enhancing user experience and information accessibility along fields such as listening duration, raga base, etc.
- Commissioned new content to complement archival offerings effectively.
- Promoted the application to a wide demographic, including tech-savvy youth, devotees across major faiths, and music connoisseurs.
- Supervised the selection process of devotional archival content from the National Cultural Audiovisual Archives (NCAA) repository, ensuring requisite permissions from Partnering Institutions.
- Managed the process of selecting a technical agency for developing the mobile and web application on iOS and Android platforms, ensuring quality in the development and maintenance phases.
- Created a metadata schema for the application, conforming to the Dublin Core international metadata standard.
- Curated sections and thematic playlists for the application, ensuring representation of all major Indian faiths and important festive occasions.
- Commissioned and supervised the work of six (6) nationally renowned music composers to create nearly 175 new devotional music tracks to complement the archival content in the application.
- Ministry of Culture, Government of India
Programme Consultant
Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA)
Delhi, India
06.2013 - 08.2014
- Conceptualized academic lectures, exhibitions, and festivals closely tied to ongoing research projects at IGNCA.
- Reviewed and assessed projects focused on performing arts, establishing project management systems to ensure adherence to institutional timelines and deliverables.
- Curated a two-day dhrupad festival in memory of Ustad Rahim Fahimuddin Khan Dagar and Ustad Zia Fariduddin Dagar.
- Organized an exhibition of audiovisual archives, integrating collections from nine (9) governmental and non-governmental audiovisual repositories.
- Directed the establishment of two international exhibitions-'African Elites in India' and 'Drawn from Light: Early Photography in the Indian Subcontinent'-in collaboration with the Alkazi Foundation, New Delhi.
- Contributed as a member of the curatorial team for the exhibition '(Re)Discovering India: Then and Now,' showcasing archival photographic collections from renowned photographers such as Henri Cartier-Bresson, Sunil Janah, and Shambhu Saha drawn from the Cultural Archives of IGNCA.
- Ministry of Culture, Government of India
Cultural Manager
Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC)
Delhi, India
06.2009 - 12.2013
- Led a research program aimed at revitalizing the poetic and musical contributions of Amir Khusrau, the 13th-century poet, courtier, and Sufi.
- Conducted extensive fieldwork in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Kashmir, and Punjab, complemented by secondary source research in Persian, Urdu, Hindi, and English.
- Curated two international festivals titled 'Jashn-e-Khusrau' in 2010 and 2013, featuring academic lectures, symposia, poetry appreciation sessions, and performances across classical, popular, and experimental musical genres.
- Served as a member of the curatorial team for four (4) exhibitions focusing on different aspects of Amir Khusrau's life, work, and legacy during the Jashn-e-Khusrau festivals in 2010 and 2013.
- Contributed as a writer and editorial team member for the publication 'Jashn-e-Khusrau: A Collection' (New Delhi: AKTC & Roli Books, 2012).
- Established a scholarship program for children of Qawwals from Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti to learn from senior classical musicians, including Padma Shri Ustad Faiyaz Wasifuddin Dagar.
- Developed a fellowship scheme to promote scholarly research in literary and performance studies surrounding Amir Khusrau.
- Documented the complete repertoire of Amir Khusrau's music and poetry as performed by eight (8) prominent Qawwal groups and five (5) notable classical musicians from South Asia.
- Created 'Khazana-e-Khusrau,' a resource archive housing digital manuscripts, secondary sources, audiovisual collections, and other materials generated throughout the five (5) year implementation of the 'Aalam-e-Khusrau' research program.
Chief Archivist
Ravishankar Institute for Music and Performing Arts (RIMPA)
Delhi, India
06.2002 - 01.2006
- Directed a project funded by the Ford Foundation for the preservation and digitization of archival photographs, newspaper clippings, and audiovisual resources of Bharat Ratna Pandit Ravi Shankar, aiming to make this material accessible for scholars and researchers.
- Established the audiovisual and print archives of Pandit Ravi Shankar.
- Digitized the complete collection of approximately 2,500 photographs from the private collections of Shri Uday Shankar and Pandit Ravi Shankar.
- Processed over 500 audiocassettes and 200 VHS tapes containing live performances of Pandit Ravi Shankar for the audiovisual archives.
- Supervised the installation of specialized compactors to ensure long-term archival storage and preservation of analog audiovisual resources.
- Compiled an archival concert calendar of Pandit Ravi Shankar covering the period from 1960 to 1985, numbering nearly 10,000.
Education
Doctor of Philosophy - Musicology & Indology
Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen
Tuebingen, Germany01-2027
Master of Philosophy - Sociology
University of Delhi
Delhi, India03-2008
Master of Arts - Sociology
University of Delhi
Delhi, India05.2003
Bachelor of Arts (Honours) - Economics
University of Delhi
Delhi, India04.2001
Skills
- Digital Transformation
- Digitization
- Digital Documentation
- Digital Documentation Workflow Guidelines
- KPI Supervision
- Project Management
- Digital Preservation
- Web Portal Development
- Research
- Content Curation
- Resource Archive Management
- Advisory Oversight
- Collaboration
- Leadership
- Communication
- Teamwork
- Problem Solving
- Strategic Planning
Languages
English
Hindi
Urdu
Arabic
Persian
German
Youtube
https://www.youtube.com/@IrfanZuberi1980
Timeline
Digital Transformation Advisor
Museums Commission
10.2024 - 11.2025
Project Lead
Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA)
06.2022 - 06.2024
Project Manager
Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA)
01.2018 - 01.2020
Project Manager
Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA)
08.2014 - 03.2025
Programme Consultant
Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA)
06.2013 - 08.2014
Cultural Manager
Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC)
06.2009 - 12.2013
Co-Founder and Chief Research Officer
NaadSaagar Archives and Documentation Society for South Asian Music
02.2009 - Current
Chief Archivist
Ravishankar Institute for Music and Performing Arts (RIMPA)
06.2002 - 01.2006
Master of Arts - Sociology
University of Delhi
Bachelor of Arts (Honours) - Economics
University of Delhi
Doctor of Philosophy - Musicology & Indology
Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen
Master of Philosophy - Sociology
University of Delhi