Biography
Nassar Mansour is one of the most accomplished contemporary calligraphers in the Arab world. He was born in Jordan and showed deep interest in calligraphy from an early age.
In 1988 he obtained a BA in Islamic Studies, Economics and Statistics from the University of Jordan.
In 1997 he graduated with an MA degree in Islamic Arts, specializing in Arabic Calligraphy, from Al al-Bayt University in Jordan.
In 1991-1995 he worked as a lecturer in the art of Arabic calligraphy at the University of Jordan.
In 1998-2002 he taught at the Institute of Traditional Islamic Arts, al-Balqa′ Applied University, Jordan.
In 1997-1999 he was engaged in the twelfth-century Saladin′s pulpit’s (minbar) inscriptions and ornaments restoration, which had been destroyed in 1969, at al-Aqsa Mosque, Jerusalem.
In 2003 Mansour received a calligraphy diploma (ijaza) from renowned Turkish master calligrapher Hasan Çelebi.
He has participated in numerous calligraphy workshops and exhibitions in the Middle East, Europe, India, Malaysia, and Japan.
In 2005 Mansour organized an exhibition on the Ijaza, The Making of the Master, at the British Museum, London.
In 2007 he received a PhD in the Art of Arabic Calligraphy from the Prince’s School of Traditional Arts under the University of Wales where he taught Arabic calligraphy from 2002-2007. Mansour is currently giving lectures on the Art of Arabic Calligraphy at the Institute of Traditional Islamic Arts at al-Balqa′ Applied University, Jordan.
