Nja mahdaoui biography channel

Nja Mahdaoui (born 1937) is a Tunisian artist known for his use of calligraphy as a graphic art form. He has often been described as a 'choreographer of letters.'^[1]

Early life and education

Nja Mahdaoui was born in Tunis in 1937.^[2] He initially studied painting and art history at Carthage National Museum,^[3] but later, encouraged by the director of the Italian Cultural Centre in Tunis, studied painting and philosophy at the Santa Andrea Academy in Rome (1966–1968).^[2]

He later moved to Paris to go to the Cité internationale des arts, where he attended courses at the École du Louvre.^[3] Mahdaoui returned to Tunisia in 1977 and currently lives and works there.^[4]

Career

Mahdaoui began his career as an abstract painter in the 1960s, then continued by experimenting with Arabic calligraphy.^[5] Mahdaoui has tried various traditional and experimental media.

He produced his first paintings on