Our Team

A cultural manager and practitioner, and a lecturer on the Cultural Development Diploma at the Faculty of Arts, Cairo University. She has years of experience in cultural management and development and community work, including training and consulting, capacity building, and monitoring and evaluation.

She has also taken part in launching many cultural projects and initiatives, and founded several of her own, including the "Kaffak" forum, which supports and empowers cultural and artistic entities, and the "Masahat" festival for arts and heritage.

She also works in audio blogging as part of the "Modawwanat" project launched by Al Mawred Al Thaqafy in partnership with the British Council.

Abdullah attended several faculties: the Faculty of Arabic Language in 2015, then the Faculty of Islamic Studies at Al-Azhar University in 2017, until he joined the Faculty of Management Information Systems in Suez in 2020. Alongside this, he began his volunteering journey with Life Makers Egypt in 2014, where he worked on data management, central-level fundraising campaigns, graphic design, social media management and content writing. Abdullah has advanced skills in voice-over, sales, and operations and project management, and has worked with a number of development organisations and projects. He contributes tirelessly to developing Al Qalam's business and expanding its activities.

He started at Al Qalam in 2019 as a non-formal programs coordinator, then joined us as a business developer. He also provides ongoing support in managing our platforms and in our graphic design, and now helps with video editing and montage for the Arabic Calligraphy Endowment.

A freelance architect and independent cultural manager. He studied architecture at Al-Azhar University and studied Arabic calligraphy at the Tahseen Al-Khutut schools, and is currently studying on a Bayt Jameel Diploma in Traditional Crafts scholarship. He focuses on encouraging efforts to revive Islamic art and to rehabilitate and reuse heritage buildings in historic Cairo. He believes in the role of architects in building communities, not just buildings, and in making art accessible and common to all as a fundamental right. With his colleagues he has therefore launched a number of artistic and urban projects and initiatives to help build culture and artistic capacities, and as a result of this tireless work they have won a number of local and international awards, grants and honours.

An artist and designer who graduated from the Faculty of Specific Education, South Valley University. He then joined a large number of workshops and educational programs on design and its various tools. He has volunteered and worked as a professional designer in many organisations and companies, and created the visual identity of many startups. Karram combines his passion for Arabic calligraphy and ornamental design with professionalism in design, which led him to join the "Executing Calligrapher" fellowship, to bring the artistic side of Arabic calligraphy into the making of modern logos.

He graduated from the Higher Institute of Agricultural Cooperation, Al-Azhar University. While searching for his passion he practised photography as a hobby, progressing until he became an assistant trainer in mobile photography workshops at Alwan Foundation. While working with the Al Qalam team since 2018 as space coordinator, he was drawn to the sessions teaching the basics of graphic design software and its use in designing Arabic calligraphy, and wanted to master graphic design tools. He took part in many educational programs and workshops to develop his design skills and study the various programs. He now combines his work as a designer at Dar El Nahda Misr Publishing with developing his skills in film editing, animation and photo editing, alongside his continuing contribution to the Al Qalam team.

An independent cultural manager and visual arts researcher interested in the effect of social relations on the art scene. She graduated from the Faculty of Art Education, Helwan University, in 2011 and received a master's degree from the same university in 2017 in art history, with a thesis titled (Visual Metaphor in Analysing Conceptual Art as an Entry to Art Criticism). She also earned a Diploma in Cultural Development from Cairo University in 2019. She has six years of experience in cultural management and combines her work as cultural programs manager at Al Qalam with her participation in the Q.L group, which studies the work environment and its conditions through a participatory approach, aiming to raise awareness of key issues and problems related to working conditions and to help develop strategies to change them for the better.

She graduated from the Faculty of Commerce and Business Administration, Helwan University, in the political science division in 2017, then moved to India and taught the principles of politics in the city of Hisar for a year. On returning to Cairo she worked in various organisations and companies: travel consultant at Expedia, financial analyst at ACE Life Insurance, and coordinator of the CILAS space (Cairo Institute of Liberal Arts and Sciences) in 2019. She joined the Al Qalam team in the second half of 2020. Nancy loves photography, as well as blogging and the arts.

Nedaa graduated with honours in architecture in 2014 from MTI University. She began her career as a teaching assistant while pursuing a master's degree in architecture at Cairo University, and worked as a young architect at a number of national and international organisations, companies and universities in Egypt, Malaysia, Morocco, Germany and Lebanon. She was nominated collectively for the 2019 Aga Khan Award cycle under the umbrella of Hand Over | Ayat Community School. Nedaa is interested in designing inclusive, safe and accessible public spaces for marginalised communities, and aims to use her knowledge to empower unequal communities towards social justice. She worked as general coordinator of the Aseel 2019 program, organised by Al Qalam with its Dutch partners to raise the skills of Egyptian designers.

Nesma Nafie | Photographer and film editor. She graduated from the Faculty of Arts, Department of Communication and Media Sciences. She boldly entered the field of video filming and covered many events and conferences on youth and university news, then entered the world of editing and photography after joining many training courses and workshops. She then moved on to full event coverage, filming reports, promotional filming and photography. Among her most important work are the complete coverage of the 2016 Book Fair and of the Executing Calligrapher program at Al Qalam in 2019, working as promotion and photography officer for medical clinics and beauty salons, and filming and editing promotional videos for companies, clinics, hospitals and various cultural institutions.

An artist and trainer in Arabic calligraphy who also works as a client accountant in the private sector. He graduated from the Faculty of Commerce, Accounting Department, Cairo University, in 2012, and studied Arabic calligraphy alongside his university studies for four years, earning the Arabic Calligraphy Diploma in 2013. After the diploma he continued his learning journey and received an ijaza in Ruq'ah, Diwani and Jali Diwani scripts, and he seeks to obtain the ijaza in the other Arabic scripts to revive this honourable tradition. Islam has been giving training workshops on the cursive styles of Arabic calligraphy for 4 years. He has taken part in many art exhibitions in Egypt and one international exhibition in Kazakhstan, won third place at the Cairo International Forum for Arabic Calligraphy (third edition, Authentic Trend branch), and received an encouragement prize in the Khodeir El-Borsaidy International Competition. In 2019 he joined the "Executing Calligrapher" fellowship to study four of the rigid scripts and make a preliminary study of some traditional crafts. Islam is passionate about preserving the cultural heritage of Arabic calligraphy, learning and teaching it on sound foundations, and working to employ it and combine it with other arts.

A medical doctor and community medicine specialist who works in awareness and early detection of breast cancer. Sherine has loved drawing, Islamic geometric ornament and Arabic calligraphy since early childhood. She joined the Bayt Jameel School of Islamic Heritage and graduated in 2018, specialising in the craft of Islamic plaster and stained glass. Sherine is also interested in women's issues, so her graduation project took the form of three plaster panels representing the symbol of the female through the ages of Egypt. She then joined the "Executing Calligrapher" fellowship of Al Qalam School, where she studied some Kufic scripts and traditional crafts, and as part of the program she gave a coloured-glass mosaic workshop. She has also taken part in two Bayt Jameel exhibitions and the Bayt Yakan exhibition with plaster carving, stained glass and mosaic works. Sherine is also a writer, with two novels published in English.

An Egyptian software developer specialising in text-rendering technologies and computer font processing, and a type designer specialising in Arabic and mathematical fonts. Khaled studied medicine and worked as a doctor before devoting himself to software development and type design.

Khaled Housny has designed a number of digital typefaces and contributed to the design of others, including open-source Arabic fonts available for public use, such as «Amiri», which revives the last Naskh style of the Bulaq Press, and the Qur'anic Kufic font «Qahiri», among others. He also contributes to many open-source software projects responsible for text rendering and font processing in operating systems, web browsers and many other programs.

A master of Arabic calligraphy and a board member of the Egyptian Calligraphers Syndicate. He was born in the Gamaliya district of Mu'izz's Cairo and loved Islamic heritage, architecture and Arabic calligraphy from a young age. He studied oil painting independently at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Helwan University, and studied Arabic calligraphy at the Arabic Calligraphy Academy in Bab El-Louq, earning the Arabic Calligraphy Diploma in 1994, then the Diploma in Islamic Ornamentation and Kufic Script and the specialisation diploma in 2009. He took part with his works in the first Youth Salon in 1990, then the Salon of the Fine Arts Society, followed by a series of art exhibitions and local participations such as the Cairo International Festival and the Luxor International Forum, the Cairo International Forum, and international ones in Georgia and Kazakhstan. Reda has received many honours and recognitions from local and international art bodies, and obtained the ijaza in Ruq'ah script from Al-Halaqa Foundation for Islamic Heritage. In his artistic journey he was influenced by many calligraphers such as Mohamed Abdel Qader, Mohamed Hammam, Khodeir El-Borsaidy, Mounir El-Rabat and others.

A designer and trainer in jewellery and handmade crafts. She earned a bachelor's degree in commerce from Cairo University in 2012. She has worked as a trainer since 2010 at many cultural centres and institutions, starting with the university's Craft Training and Productive Families Centre, the Takeeba Cultural Centre and the Mahabbat Al-Rahman Foundation, and has delivered a series of workshops in cooperation with the Museums Sector of the Ministry of Antiquities. She received a scholarship from the Chamber of Tourist Shops, Ministry of Tourism, in 2014, a Diploma in Goldsmithing Basics from the Ministry of Industry in 2015, and a Diploma in Advanced Goldsmithing from the "Earn a Beautiful Craft" program of the Cultural Development Fund in 2016. She is now studying Arabic calligraphy and Islamic ornamentation at Al Qalam School.

Born in September 1963, Egypt.

He began learning calligraphy and ornamentation in 1974 under the supervision of Ustaz Ismail Darwish, may God have mercy on him, and the master of calligraphers Ustaz Mohamed Abdel Qader, may God have mercy on him. He learned Kairouani Kufic in Tunisia from the calligrapher Amer Ben Jeddou. He holds the Arabic Calligraphy Diploma from the Arabic Calligraphy Academy in Cairo (1995) and the Specialisation and Illumination Diploma from the same academy (1999). He worked as a historical decor designer at Egyptian Television from 1990 to 1992. Since 1992 he has worked, God willing, as a calligrapher and graphic designer at Al-Gomhuria newspaper. He took part in founding the Egyptian General Society for Arabic Calligraphy in 1994. He has won seven international prizes in Kufic script. He is a Kufic teacher at the Arabic calligraphy schools of the Ministry of Education, a member of the documentation and classification committee of the Arabic Calligraphy Museum in Alexandria, a member of the committee that authored the book on ornamentation and illumination at the Ministry of Education, and a member of the Arabic Calligraphy Committee at the Ministry of Education. He has helped discover many young talents among Arabic calligraphy artists in Egypt. He has held 140 local, international and solo Arabic calligraphy exhibitions and sat on the jury of several international Arabic calligraphy competitions. His works are held in several international museums in Arab and European countries. He has lectured in several countries on Arabic calligraphy, ornamentation and Islamic architecture. His writings have appeared in Al-Gomhuria, Aqidati, the English-language Egyptian Gazette, the French-language Progrès Égyptien, Al-Ahram, Nesf El-Donia magazine, Horriyati magazine, Al-Anba' of Kuwait, Akhbar Al-Khaleej of the UAE and Al-Madina of Saudi Arabia, as well as the book The Art of Arabic Calligraphy published by the Library of Alexandria, the Encyclopedia of Arabic Calligraphy between Plastic Expression and Communicative Systems published by the Tunisian Academy of Sciences, Letters and Arts (Beit Al-Hikma), the book From Istanbul to Timbuktu published by the University of Cape Town in South Africa, the book on celebrating World Arabic Language Day published by the Egyptian Cultural Centre in Nigeria, and some publications of Arabic calligraphy exhibitions in the United Arab Emirates. He has given many educational workshops in calligraphy and ornamentation in several countries around the world.

An Egyptian designer and ornamentist whose artistic education gave him the skills needed for design work. His passion for art led him to collect and study books on drawing and ornamentation, until he joined the design studio Editio Electrum at the Islamic Thesaurus Society, where working alongside the studio director, the artist Daud Sutton, gave him a deep understanding of Islamic ornament. This qualified him to succeed in embodying the ideas of original heritage designs when reproducing them digitally. That period was also the main reason for his interest in Mamluk ornament in particular, and he began visiting historic Egyptian mosques with distinctive architecture and decoration to study them. His expertise also extends to illumination, in which he trained under experts. He has also had the honour of designing and ornamenting artworks for leading calligraphers in Egypt and abroad.

An artist specialising in woodwork and a designer of home accessories and furniture. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in quality control from the Workers' University. After graduating he turned to learning handicrafts, which he had loved since childhood, and joined the Bayt Jameel fellowship for heritage arts, specialising in woodwork and Arab art. He learned the basics of carpentry at Najjaar Woodworking, founded by Mr. Mohamed Salem, then joined the Executing Calligrapher fellowship at Al Qalam School. He is now an emerging teacher of Islamic geometric and floral ornament and the craft of woodwork. His goal is to break the so-called secret of the craft by spreading and teaching the knowledge of Islamic crafts and ornamentation in a systematic, practical way, to keep it from disappearing.

He graduated from the Faculty of Law, Menoufia University, in 2005, and in the same year earned the Arabic Calligraphy Diploma, ranking first nationwide. In 2007 he received the specialisation diploma in Arabic calligraphy and illumination, again in first place. He currently works as artistic supervisor and teacher of Arabic calligraphy at the Arabic Calligraphy School. Abu Moussa has years of experience in making Arabic calligraphy tools and their raw materials, such as inks, pens and papers, as well as in making watercolours for drawing, ornamentation and fine art, decorative water-based and oil paints, and printing inks. Through his tireless work, Abu Moussa aims to serve the art of Arabic calligraphy, produce its tools at the highest quality and lowest price, and take part in the spread and revival of Arabic calligraphy.

Al Qalam's master of Arabic calligraphy and one of the leading figures of the Egyptian school, distinguished by simplicity, clarity and high craftsmanship. His scripts have a beautiful flavour that carries the fragrance of Arab authenticity, which he drew from the master of Egyptian calligraphers Mohamed Abdel Qader, together with the scent of artistic modernity, producing wonderful calligraphic creations. He studied Arabic calligraphy at the Tahseen Al-Khutut school and earned the specialisation diploma in calligraphy and illumination in 1988. He has had the honour of writing the Holy Qur'an more than once, and received his ijaza from the master of calligraphers, the late Mahmoud Ibrahim Salama. He has long experience in writing and teaching Arabic calligraphy, and has taken part in many solo and group art exhibitions, in addition to receiving a number of honours and certificates of appreciation.

A traditional artist and designer who graduated from the Faculty of Applied Arts, Department of Decoration, in 2012. She worked in graphic design, took up photography, took part in many local and international exhibitions and competitions, and won two awards for her work. She loves Islamic art, ornament and Arabic calligraphy. Recently she founded Menna Allah ("Wa Zukhrufan") to revive the use of Islamic ornament and Arabic calligraphy in contemporary products, and she studies Arabic calligraphy and Islamic ornamentation at the Al Qalam and Mamluk schools.

A traditional artist and emerging Egyptian designer with a background in human resources management. She earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from Cairo University in 2003 and a diploma in human resources management from the American University in Cairo in 2009. Her passion for art led her to join the "Bayt Jameel Program for Traditional Arts and Crafts", from which she graduated in 2018, specialising in woodwork and Arab carpentry. In 2019 Nesreen joined the Executing Calligrapher fellowship at Al Qalam School. She works as a project manager and facilitator of projects focused on community empowerment and intercultural education for children and young people..

A jewellery and accessories designer who graduated from the Faculty of Art Education in 2010. She earned the Goldsmithing Basics Diploma from the Ministry of Industry in 2015, the General Diploma in Art Education in 2018, and the Bayt Jameel Diploma in Traditional Crafts, Metals Division, in 2017. She has worked as a trainer at many cultural institutions and centres, took part in the first and second Egyptian Forum for Heritage and Contemporary Jewellery exhibitions and in the 2018 exhibition of graduates of the Prince's School of Traditional Arts, and won first prize in the Arab Academic Skills Competition in 2018. She is now studying Arabic calligraphy and Islamic ornamentation at Al Qalam School.

A doctor at the Faculty of Education, Al-Azhar University, in the Department of Mental Health, and a teacher at the Arabic Calligraphy Academy in Cairo. He has won many local and international awards. His passion for Arabic calligraphy helped him delve into the interdisciplinary studies of the psychology of art and graphology (personality analysis through handwriting).

An Egyptian artist born in Giza Governorate who earned the Arabic Calligraphy Diploma in 2008. He studied at the Faculty of Mass Communication, Cairo University, then turned to teaching and caring for the art of Arabic calligraphy. He won a prize in an Arabic calligraphy competition held in Saudi Arabia in 2011, along with many certificates of appreciation, and has taken part in many art exhibitions. He held a solo exhibition in Greece with more than 30 artworks, and took part in the programme Rihlat Al-Muhib on Al Nas channel, using Arabic calligraphy in his presentation. His works are held in many countries, such as Greece, the Netherlands, Germany, the United States, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and he has taught Arabic calligraphy at a number of historic sites and universities.

A teacher at the Arabic Calligraphy School at the Mustafa Saad School in Tanta, the school from which the head of the Egyptian calligraphers, Khodeir El-Borsaidy, graduated. He earned the Arabic Calligraphy and specialisation diplomas and a bachelor's degree in Arabic language from Al-Azhar University, Damietta branch. He has taken part in many local and international exhibitions, was nominated by the head of the calligraphers' syndicate for the Khoran competition in Abu Dhabi, and his works were acquired in England in 2018. He is known for using Arabic calligraphy to adorn mosques with inscription bands and Islamic ornament.

He studied Arabic calligraphy in Cairo at the Bab El-Louq school and earned the Arabic Calligraphy Diploma in 2016, and a bachelor's degree in agricultural cooperation in 2017. He has taken part in a number of international and local Arabic calligraphy exhibitions and has many artworks. He opened a centre for teaching Arabic calligraphy in Beheira Governorate to advance this art and help the people of his city, and has four years of experience in making calligraphy tools and their various raw materials.

Ahmed Fayez is an artist and entrepreneur who graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts with a passion for art and design. He has more than 15 years of experience in decoration and wooden furniture making.

Growing up in Egypt played a role in developing his passion for architecture and Islamic arts in particular, which led him to study woodwork at the Bayt Jameel School of Arts, where he studies old wooden designs in an attempt to reproduce them in a more contemporary way that blends Islamic art with modern architecture. To deepen his passion for Islamic arts, he studied four Kufic scripts in the Executing Calligrapher program: Fatimid, Qur'anic (Mushafi), Square and Mamluk.

Asma Mamdouh | A visual artist who graduated from the Faculty of Art Education in 2014. She has worked as a photographer since 2009, taken part in many exhibitions and curated several art exhibitions, then turned to facilitating photography workshops between 2014 and 2016. In 2015 she completed the preliminary master's year in the Metalwork Department of the Faculty of Art Education, and from 2017 she joined Bayt Jameel for Traditional Crafts and Arts, specialising in ceramics. Asmaa is interested in designs inspired by Islamic arts and their application on many artistic materials, and in 2019 she joined the Executing Calligrapher program to learn the rigid Arabic scripts and blend them into her contemporary artworks.

Dr. Muhammed Ragaey (Abu Al-Fida) | A specialist in diagnostic radiology who earned a bachelor's degree in medicine and surgery from Benha University in 2011. Alongside his medical work, Abu Al-Fida is also interested in studying Arabic calligraphy and design. He ranked third nationwide in the Arabic Calligraphy Diploma in 2018, then took part in several art exhibitions, including the Library of Islamic Civilisation exhibition in 2019, and later joined Al Qalam's "Executing Calligrapher" fellowship to learn some rigid scripts and crafts. He now seeks to strengthen his graphic design skills, and has also helped create some Arabic logos for organisations.

Rania Hafez | An accomplished artist with a bachelor's degree from the Faculty of Fine Arts, Helwan University, who recently graduated from Bayt Jameel for Heritage Arts, specialising in woodwork and Arab carpentry. Rania gained her practical experience working as a design engineer at Hazem Shokry Design for marble and glass for 8 years, then developed her skills in interior decoration and furniture design by attending a number of advanced training courses. She now works freelance on her own project in decoration, interior design, furniture design and handmade products, blending different materials. Rania has a passion for the arts and is interested in blending the artistic foundations she has acquired with Egyptian culture, heritage and environment, to produce functional art products on an aesthetic basis.

Radwa Abu Taleb | An Egyptian artist with a bachelor's degree in fine arts, interested in design and home furniture, who worked in interior design for 5 years. She is also interested in Islamic arts, traditional crafts and Arabic calligraphy, and learned some Arabic scripts from leading calligraphy masters. She graduated in 2019 from Bayt Jameel for Traditional Arts and Crafts, specialising in woodwork and Arab carpentry. She has some experience in solo and group exhibitions, and currently designs her own handmade products with an Arab and Islamic character.

Soheir Abdel Fattah | She studied ancient and Islamic history, and studied Arabic calligraphy and ornamentation at the Tahseen Al-Khutut school. She has a particular interest in the Arabic letter and the heritage crafts related to it, and in 2019 joined the Executing Calligrapher fellowship at Al Qalam School. An entrepreneur who graduated from the Life Makers Entrepreneurs Academy (10th cohort), she achieved top places in development projects in 2013. Soheir has many interests: she is skilled in crochet, embroidery, mosaic and cooking, and enjoys farming and keeping pets.

Marwah Saleh | An Egyptian jewellery designer who graduated in 2014 from the Faculty of Commerce and Business Administration, and then began studying Arabic calligraphy and Islamic arts at the Arabic calligraphy school and various institutions, before moving on to the foundations of design and information design. She believes that the arts in general, and Arabic calligraphy in particular, are too big to be confined to a framed panel; we should touch the things we use around us. From there she began studying jewellery design and making, and her first designed piece appeared in 2017, the beginning of her own jewellery project ("Ismi Arabi"). In 2019, Marwa joined the Executing Calligrapher fellowship at Al Qalam School.

Nervan Talha، She earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics and computer science from Ain Shams University, and worked as a Flash illustrator and web designer for a few years. At the end of 2012 she founded her own company, Warraqat, for the art of paper applications. She has also made handmade paper products and simplified geometric shapes for children through paper forming.