Nja Mahdaoui

Biography

Nja Mahdaoui was born in Tunis in 1937.

In 1967, he graduated from the Academy of Arts and Sciences Santa Andrea of Rome & the Ecole du Louvre (Paris). He continued his studies in Cite Internationale des Arts (Paris), receiving a scholarship from the Tunisian government. Nja is a member of the jury and a guest of honour at many international events, as well as International Jury member of the Unesco Arts Prize. His works are exhibited all over the world and are part of the world’s largest collections, including the British Museum. Nja Mahdaoui is a prominent figure in the world of modern Arabic Art.

He is cited in:

The WHO’S WHO in Graphic Design (Zurich),
Men of Achievement IBC Cambridge,
The BENEZIT (Dictionary of painters, sculptors, designers and engravers of E. Benezit).

He has participated in the monumental decoration of the International Airports of Jeddah and Riyadh, and of the ARAMCO head office at Dahran, Saudi Arabia. He won the international competition for the external design of 4 aircrafts for the Gulf Air 50th Anniversary, the national airline of Bahrain, Oman and the UAE. He was awarded First Prize in the Art of Calligraphy category, at the 5th International Calligraphy & Calligraphy Art Exhibition 2007 in Kabul, Pakistan.

He was invited as Guest of honour and Jury member of the “Francophone Week” organized by Mr. Admaf at the Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research and the Ghaf Gallery in Abu Dhabi in March 2008.

His artworks were presented by El Marsa Gallery at such international art exhibitions as Art Paris – Abu Dhabi 2007, Art Dubai 2008, and Art Paris – Paris 2008.

Exhibitions:
• Rafia Gallery – Damask, Syria
• Saatchi Gallery – London, Great Britain
“Perspectives : Arab & Iranian modern masters“
• Montcalm Gallery – Gatineau, Canada
• Dar Al Funoon – Kuweit
• Waterhouse & Dodd, London, Great Britain
• Hunar Gallery – Dubai, UAE
• Silk Road Festival – Sharjah, UAE
• Hewar Art Gallery, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
• Word into Art – British Museum, Dubai, UAE
• “The Brush dances & the Ink Signs“ Hermitage Museum ‐ St‐Petersburg, Russia
• Meem Gallery, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
• “The Brush dances & the Ink Signs“ ‐ State Museum of Oriental Art – Moscow, Russia
• Tehran Biennial (Guest of honour and Jury member) ‐ Iran
• Sharjah Arab Art Biennial (Guest of honour and Jury member) – United Arab Emirates
• Word into Art – British Museum, London, Great Britain
• Tunisian Great Prize of Arts & Letters ‐ Tunisia
• Artcraft Unesco Prize – Paris, France
• International Jury member of the Unesco Arts Prize
• Gulf Air 50th Anniversary
• Signs, Traces and Calligraphy ‐ Barbican Centre, London, Great Britain
• Leighton House Museum – London, Great Britain
• “Images d’Afrique” at the Barbican Center, London, Great Britain
• “Images d’Afrique” at the Kit Museum, Amsterdam, Holland
• “Images d’Afrique” at the Odense Museum, Denmark
• “Arab Book Art” at the Bibliothèque Nationale – Paris, France
• ART Basel ‐ 1982
• Honorary Medal from the King Ibn Saoud (Saudi Arabia) for his artworks
• Gold Medal of the City of Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Iwalewa Center – Bayreuth, Germany
• Wilfredo Lam Modern Art Center – Cuba
• The Ludwig Museum ‐ Aachen, Germany
• Poster for Amnesty International
• Galerie Cobol – Copenhagen, Denmark
• Duo with Wolfgang Heuwinkel at The Unesco – Paris, Berlin and the Gutenberg Museum in Mayence, Germany
• “La Hune” – Paris, France
• Rochan Gallery – Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi
• Dakar Biennial (Jury member)
• USIA Invitation in the USA
• Citibank “International Album”
• The Arab Woman Court organised by “El Taller” in Beirut and Beijing
• ATCE (Tunisian Foreign Co‐operation Agency) Tunisia
• Icograda Zanders Calendar (UN & Unesco) – New York & Paris
• The International Peace Book (Chantal Bernard ‐ Unesco) – France
• Graphic Design Biennial of Brno, Czechoslovakia Collections
• The British Museum – London, Great Britain
• The National Museum of African Arts – Smithsonian Institution – Washington D.C., USA
• The National Gallery of Kuala Lumpur – Malaysia
• Bibliothèque Nationale – Paris, France
• Museum of Modern Art ‐ Tunis, Tunisia
• Institut du Monde Arabe – Paris, France
• The National Museum of Scotland, Great Britain
• The Ohsaki O’ Art Museum of Tokyo, Japan
• The Modern Art Museum, Baghdad, Iraq
• Museum of Modern Arab Art, Qatar
• Beit Al Quran, Manama – Bahrain
• The Royal Museum of Contemporary Art, Amman, Jordan
• The Museum of Contemporary Art of Baie Saint‐Paul, Canada
• HM The Late King Fahad bin Abdulaziz Al Saud
• “Dar Chraiet” Museum – Tozeur, Tunisia
• Japan Foundation
• Saudi Aramco