Ahmed Mustafa; From Calligraphy of Verses to Artistic Ideas
Born in 1943 in Alexandria, he is an artist, researcher, and expert on Islamic arts.
Mustafa graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts at Alexandria University in 1966 and then received a scholarship for postgraduate studies in Britain. He obtained a Ph.D. in 1989. Mustafa has participated in numerous international exhibitions with his artworks in addition to publishing several articles in scientific papers.
He soon understood his Islamic roots and presented almost all his artworks with inspiration from the Quran.
Since 1974, Mustafa is living in London and manages the Fe-Noon Ahmed Moustafa Research Centre for Arab Art and Design which he founded back in 1983.
He has lectured in different countries and is a visiting professor at London-based the Prince of Wales’s Institute of Architecture, and the University of Westminster, as well as the University of Alexandria Faculty of Fine Arts.
The Egyptian artist has held numerous exhibitions in different countries, showcasing his paintings, carpets, and colorful glass arts among other his works.
In addition to his academic excellence, European museums are full of paintings by Mustafa, who previously won the second prize at the Alexandria Biennale in 1968, and the first prize in sculpture at the 10th Alexandria Biennale in 1973.
The academic aspires to establish the headquarter of his new museum in Cairo where the historical buildings and ancient monuments are located.
The establishment of the museum at this particular time is very important to acquaint the Western visitor and even the Arab citizen with the origins and arts of Arabic calligraphy, he said once while talking to Reuters.
Western visitors usually come to see the Pharaonic monuments and temples but we miss the definition of our Arab civilization, its most important manifestations, and its basic language; the Arabic language, he said.
Queen Elizabeth II of Britain also gifted one of Mustafa's paintings entitled "Where the Two Seas Meet", to the people of Pakistan in 1997, on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the establishment of their state.
