Ibrahim El-Salahi did not invent abstraction in Sudan. He made it carry history, restraint, and consequence.
Ibrahim El-Salahi co-founded the Khartoum School, establishing a Sudanese modernism rooted in calligraphy and…
Material, surface, and the refusal of imitation
• A central figure of the Casablanca School • Replaced canvas with copper, skin, and natural pigments • Redefined modernity through indigenous form…
Jamil Hamoudi modernized the Arabic letter. His work laid the foundations of Hurufiyya and reshaped Iraqi modern art.
• Among the first to use the Arabic script as an abstract…
She merges Ottoman heritage, European modernism, and a life full of displacement and reinvention.
She built a new abstract language by combining influences from Istanbul, Paris, London, and later Amman.…
Yousef Ahmad transforms desert memory, palm-leaf paper, and Arabic script into a singular modern Qatari abstraction.
He established a Qatari modern-art identity rooted in indigenous materials and calligraphic abstraction.
He…
“When I paint, I am happy and I am in another world.” Those were the words of the Algerian Modernist Baya Mahieddine (1931-98).
Self‑taught Algerian artist who achieved recognition in…
Nja Mahdaoui treats script like visual music or choreography - a dance of forms on canvas!
Pioneer of abstract calligraphy
International trajectory: Tunisia → Rome → Paris → return home…
Hassan Massoudy positioned Arabic calligraphy within modern art, reshaping letters into a contemporary visual language.
Born in Najaf, Iraq, in 1944; trained in traditional calligraphy
Moved to Paris in 1969,…
Defined modern Iranian sculpture, bridging calligraphy, tradition, & contemporary form.
Born in Tehran in 1937; studied sculpture in Iran and Italy
Co-founder of the Saqqakhaneh movement in the 1960s…
He carried Iran’s visual memory into modern art
Studied law and political science before art, then trained in Rome.
A significant name in the Saqqakhaneh / Neo-Traditionalist movement
Known…
Building the Foundations of Arab Modernism
Among the first to experiment with Arabic calligraphy in modern art
Bridged tradition and abstraction without imitating the West
Quietly shaped a new visual…
Challenging Stereotypes Through Her Own Narrative
Lalla Essaydi’s work emerges from a personal return to the spaces of her childhood in Morocco. She describes her practice as an attempt to…