Anniversary General Meeting and Lecture 2025
The Society had its Anniversary General Meeting yesterday evening, 15 May. Open to all current Fellows of the Society, the meeting is convened annually to present a report and accounts of the Society for the past year, and to elect a new cohort of officers and Council members.
This year, the meeting was opened by the President, Dr Norbert Peabody, who asked the meeting participants to confirm the minutes of the last meeting. After this, the Treasurer, Elizabeth Robb, reported on the financial state of the Society. Following the Bicentenary activities which continued into 2024, expenditure and income of the Society have returned to normal levels, and the Society’s financial position remains sound.
Dr Norbert Peabody then gave a report of the Council and his first President’s address. He touched on the achievements of the Society in the past year, including organising a series of well-attended lectures and activities, awarding prizes, building and reinforcing links with local and overseas institutions, maintaining an active Journal publication scheme and, last but not least, providing a helpful Library and Archive service to researchers worldwide. If you would like to find out more about the Society’s accomplishments and performance for the last year, our Annual Report and Financial Statements for 2024 are available for viewing and download here.
Before concluding the meeting, Dr Norbert Peabody extended his thanks to the departing Council members for their service and support to the Society throughout their tenure, and asked those present to appoint the new officers and members of Council. Professor Sarah Ansari, the former President, will serve as the Vice-President, replacing Dr Gordon Johnson, who will remain on the Council. The current Treasurer, Elizabeth Robb, will serve for another term. Three Fellows, including Dr Liz Driver, Dr Jagjeet Lally and Dr Yuri Stoyanov, will also join the Council as members.
After the meeting, more Fellows and members of the public joined us for the anniversary lecture delivered by V&A Senior Curator Susan Stronge, Creating the Great Mughals Exhibition. Susan Stronge took us through the challenges and discoveries of putting together this spectacular showcase of Mughal art and crafts, being the last exhibition before her retirement from the V&A. She shared about the joy of selecting never-before-displayed pieces for the exhibition and crafting an engaging narrative arc spanning the reigns of three Mughal emperors, while ensuring that the outcome would appeal to a varied audience. The exhibition was of particular relevance to the Society as one of our finest manuscripts, The Gulistan (RAS Persian 258), was featured in it to illustrate the craftsmanship of Mughal artists. We are grateful to Susan Stronge for sharing her thoughts behind the curatorial process and wish her a happy retirement.
