NJA MAHDAOUI
Graphemes on Arches 1, 140 x 140 cm, ink on arches paper, 2011
Mahdaoui one of Tunisia‘s leading contemporary artists. He has traveled and exhibited his works in Asia, America, Africa and Europe. His work is based on the shapes associated with Kufic script but devoid of actual textual meaning. Famous for his meticulous work in ink on parchment, Mahdaoui stresses the visual impact of his compositions, which he refers to as ‚calligrams‘ (‚beautiful writing‘). He also produces bold and dynamic work using paper (of which there are examples in the British Museum), wood, aluminium, brass and melamine. Tunisian cultural traditions, such as tex- tile arts, are a rich source of inspiration.
Religious festivals, ceremonies and spontaneous public events in Tunisia are usually accompanied by musical perfor- mances which include both vocal and percussion elements. Mahdaoui is a lover of contemporary African music and dance and frequently performs with poets, musicians and dancers in these musical happenings.
Nja participated in numerous exhibitions worldwide including at the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris, the Hermi- tage Museum in St-Petersburg, the National Museum of Scotland and the Modern Art Museum in Baghdad, only to mention a few. He has been working with many private and public institutions worldwide and has done monu- mental works for the Museum of Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, the International Airports of Jeddah and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia and the decoration of Gulf Air aircrafts in 2000. Besides, he has been participating in international art fairs in Basel, Paris, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Marrakech and Miami. His work has been widely showed around the world, and can be found in many private and public collections including at the British Museum and the Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC. He is considered as one of the major contemporary Arab artists. GALERIE KASHYA HILDEBRAND Talstrasse 58 8001 Zurich Switzerland +41 44 210 02 02 [email protected] www.kashyahildebrand.org NJA MAHDAOUI born in Tunis, Tunisia in 1937 lives and works in Tunisia
EDUCATION
Academy of Arts of Santa Andrea in Rome, Italy Ecole du Louvre, Department of Oriental Antiquities, Paris, France
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS AND PROJECTS
The Art of Writing, Wiesbaden Art Forum, Germany Omagh Gallery, Paris, France Breaking Boundaries – Contemporary Calligraphy from the Middle East, Galerie Kashya Hildebrand, Zurich, Switzerland Pictorial Mappings of Islam & Modernity, Martin Gropius Bau Museum, Berlin, Germany International Exhibition of Calligraphy II, Contemporary Musuem of Calligraphy, Moscow, Russia Routes II Waterhouse & Dodd, London, Great Britain Saatchi Gallery, Perspectives: Arab & Iranian Modern Masters, London, Great Britain Routes I Waterhouse & Dodd, London, Great Britain Silk Road Festival, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates Word into Art, British Museum, Dubai, United Arab Emirates The Brush Dances & the Ink Signs, Hermitage Museum. St. Petersburg, Russia Tehran Biennial (guest of honour and Jury member), Iran Sharjah Arab Art Biennial (guest of honour and jury member), United Arab Emirates Word into Art, British Museum, London, Great Britain International Jury member of the Unesco Arts Prize Gulf Air 50th Anniversary Signs, Traces and Calligraphy, Barbican Centre, London, Great Britain Leighton House Museum, London, Great Britain Images d’Afrique, Barbican Center, London, Great Britain Arab Book Art at the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, France Wilfredo Lam Modern Art Center, Cuba The Ludwig Museum, Aachen, Germany Poster for Amnesty International
SELECTED MUSEUM COLLECTIONS
The British Museum, London, Great Britain The National Museum of African Arts, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C. , USA The National Gallery of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, France Museum of Modern Art ,Tunis, Tunisia Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, France The National Museum of Scotland, Great Britain The Ohsaki O‘ Art Museum of Tokyo, Japan The Modern Art Museum, Baghdad, Iraq Beit Al Quran, Manama, Bahrain The Royal Museum of Contemporary Art, Amman, Jordan The Museum of Contemporary Art of Baie Saint-Paul, Canada HM The Late King Fahad bin Abdulaziz Al Saud “Dar Chraiet” Museum, Tozeur, Tunisia GALERIE KASHYA HILDEBRAND Talstrasse 58 8001 Zurich Switzerland +41 44 210 02 02 [email protected] www.kashyahildebrand.org