Nja Mahdaoui Tunisian, b. 1937

Nja Mahdaoui (b. 1937, Tunis, Tunisia) is a pioneering figure of modern and contemporary Arab art whose practice has, for more than six decades, explored the expressive potential of the sign, gesture, and letter. Working across painting, drawing, parchment, sculpture, tapestry, performance, architecture, and monumental public commissions, Mahdaoui has developed a singular visual language of free-form graphemes—forms that evoke writing while resisting conventional linguistic meaning.

Mahdaoui’s approach emerged from his engagement with international abstraction rather than from a traditional training in calligraphy. After studying painting and art history at the École Libre de Carthage, he moved to Rome in 1965, where he studied at the Accademia di Sant’Andrea and worked with artist Zoe Elena Giotta Frunza, a former pupil of Constantin Brancusi. In 1968, he began a two-year residency at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris and enrolled at the École du Louvre in the Department of Oriental Antiquities. During this period, his encounters with critic Michel Tapié and a broad circle of European, American, Iranian, and Japanese artists introduced him to Informel and other currents of postwar abstraction. These exchanges prompted a deeper investigation into the graphic gesture, gradually leading to the free graphemes that became central to his artistic vocabulary.

By the 1970s, signs and abstracted letterforms had become increasingly prominent in Mahdaoui’s work. Rather than functioning as readable language, these forms operate independently as rhythm, movement, structure, and visual expression. His experimentation expanded across an exceptional range of materials and disciplines—from his celebrated works on parchment and vellum to bronze, brass, aluminium, tapestry, stained glass, sculpture, performance, and architectural interventions.

Mahdaoui’s practice has consistently crossed geographic and disciplinary boundaries. He collaborated with artists, writers, dancers, musicians, architects, craftspeople, and performers internationally, while undertaking major public commissions throughout Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and the United States. Among his landmark projects are monumental works for King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah and King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh; designs for Gulf Air aircraft marking the airline’s 50th anniversary; commissions for King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST); and architectural and public-art projects in Tunisia and internationally. His career has also encompassed performances and presentations at institutions including the British Museum and Maison des Cultures du Monde, as well as participation in the Havana Biennial and numerous international cultural programs.

Throughout his career, Mahdaoui has received significant international recognition. He was awarded Tunisia’s Ordre National du Mérite Culturel, the King Abdulaziz Al Saud Honorary Medal and Gold Medal of the City of Jeddah, the Prix National des Arts et des Lettres, and the UNESCO Crafts Prize for the Arab States. In 1993, 1994, and 1995, he served as a jury member for the UNESCO International Arts Prize. His extensive career was documented in the comprehensive monograph Nja Mahdaoui – Jafr. The Alchemy of Signs, published by Skira in 2015.

Mahdaoui’s works are held in major public and private collections internationally, including the British Museum, London; Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris; Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha; Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, Washington, D.C.; National Museums Scotland, Edinburgh; Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts, Amman; Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur; LaM, Lille; Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah; and Dalloul Art Foundation, Beirut.

Mahdaoui lives and works in Tunisia.