Joumana Medlej

I'm a British-Lebanese artist who moved from Beirut to East London about a decade ago. I'm best known for reviving archaic styles of Arabic calligraphy (the Kufi scripts) and the medieval art materials that accompany them.

My work reflects my experience of the world as being alive with mystery. It invites the viewer to step into this forgotten space by holding them in wonder and stillness: in this vulnerable moment, when one is silenced by beauty and by not-knowing, remembrance can stir.

To this end, the work takes on different shapes, from images of contemplation made up of unreadable words to multisensory interactive objects that tell an unspoken story.

Diploma in Traditional Arts (Islamic Manuscript Illumination, Alchemy of Paint, Geometry and World Art, Icon Painting of the Prosopon School, Art of Egg Painting and Gilding) from the Prince’s School of Traditional Arts, 2013

Assistant and apprentice to Master Samir Sayegh, Beirut, 2007-2012

BGD (Bachelors of Graphic Design), American University of Beirut, 2001

• Group: “The Written Word“, Woolf Institute, Cambridge 2022.
• Solo: In So Many Words, Pictorem Gallery, London 2019.
• Work included in The Society of Women Artists 2018 Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London.
• “Art in Times of Crisis” talk, exhibition and workshops, Raleigh, USA, 2017.
• Group: “Lighting the Darkness”, the Crypt Gallery, London, 2015.
• Work included in “Signs, Traces and Calligraphy” by Rose Issa, Beirut, 2015
• Work included in “Great Lebanese Painters of the Jihad and Farouk Abillama Collection”, Beirut, 2014
• Sharjah Art Museum’s 5th Summer Art Festival, 2014
• Kuwait’s 6th International Islamic Arts Convention, 2013-14
• Group: “Maktoob: Contemporary Calligraphy” , Maasser Beiteddine, Lebanon, 2012

COLLECTIONS:
• Contemporary British Published Collections, The British Library, UK
• The Khayrallah Center, NCSU, USA
• The KA Collection, Lebanon
• Gallery One, King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture, KSA
• The Jihad and Farouk Abillama Collection, Lebanon