Taha Al Bustani
1950– · Baghdad
- Calligraphers
- Living
Taha bin Muhammad Nuri al-Bustani is a Baghdad calligrapher and illuminator, born in the city in 1950 (1369 AH). After his schooling he entered the decoration and calligraphy department of the Institute of Fine Arts and graduated in 1978. He learned the rules of calligraphy from Salah Shirzad, Sadiq al-Duri and Mahdi al-Jaburi, and Arabic Wikipedia notes the strong influence of Salman al-Khattat on his work. He taught calligraphy and ornament at the Institute of Fine Arts from 1986 to 1995, later worked for the Ministry of Education, where he headed the design of school books, and restored paintings at the regional centre for the conservation of cultural property in Iraq. He designed the illumination of a Qur'an printed in West Germany in 1979 and wrote inscriptions and ornament for mosques in Baghdad and in Anah. At the Baghdad Centre for the Arts he lectured and founded the section for illumination and ornament. He held five solo exhibitions in Amman and Baghdad between 1992 and 2001 and won awards at the Baghdad international calligraphy festivals.
Achievements
- Graduated from the decoration and calligraphy department of the Institute of Fine Arts, Baghdad, in 1978, and taught there from 1986 to 1995.
- Designed the illumination of a Qur'an printed in West Germany in 1979.
- Wrote inscriptions and ornament in Baghdad mosques, among them the Fakhr al-Din Anis mosque in al-A'zamiyya and the Wafa'iyya mosque, and in the new mosque of Anah.
- Founded the illumination and ornament section of the Baghdad Centre for the Arts; headed school-book design at the Iraqi Ministry of Education.
- Awards at the Baghdad International Festivals of Arabic Calligraphy (from 1988); five solo exhibitions in Amman and Baghdad (1992-2001).
Taught by: Salah Shirzad, Sadiq al-Duri, Mahdi al-Jaburi
Taught: Rasul al-Zarkani
His work
He is living, so his calligraphy is protected by copyright and no works are shown. No freely licensed photograph of him was found on Commons.
Write in the tradition this hand shaped.
Open Mashq Studio →Living calligraphers you can buy from — signed originals on paper, from AED 550: Anwar Alhulwani (Thuluth) · Ahmed Alhawary (Jali Thuluth, Naskh) · Rasha Kasim (Kufi).
Sources
- Arabic Wikipedia: birth, training, teachers, posts, mosque work, exhibitions, awards ar.wikipedia.org
- Arabic Wikipedia (Salah Shirzad): lists Taha al-Bustani among Shirzad's students ar.wikipedia.org
Written by the MASHQ studio · last updated 2026-10-05. Further reading, the standard references in English: Sheila S. Blair, Islamic Calligraphy (Edinburgh University Press, 2006) · Annemarie Schimmel, Calligraphy and Islamic Culture (New York University Press, 1984) · Yasin Hamid Safadi, Islamic Calligraphy (Thames and Hudson, 1978).