Towhidi Tabari
1964– · Babol
Towhidi Tabari is an Iranian calligrapher born in Babol, Mazandaran, on 15 June 1964. He began calligraphy at fourteen in his home town with Mohammad Zaman Ferasat and Mehdi Fallah Moghadam. At nineteen he moved to Tehran to study at the institute of the Society of Iranian Calligraphists under Gholam Hossein Amirkhani and Yadollah Kaboli Khansari, where he reached the master's grade, while also studying fine arts, Iranian traditional arts and graphic design. He specialises in nasta'liq and shikasta. He worked for six years as chief calligrapher and designer at Iran Aircraft Industries and taught calligraphy in Tehran. From 1986 he exhibited widely in Iran, Europe, Asia and the Americas. A year at the Cité internationale des arts in Paris from 2003 turned his work toward a more abstract style that still keeps Persian elements. In 2002 he opened in Paris the first school of Persian calligraphy and illumination in France, and he has led workshops in French institutions and in Zagreb. He also designs posters and books.
Achievements
- Earned the master's grade of the Society of Iranian Calligraphists in Tehran.
- Chief calligrapher and designer at Iran Aircraft Industries for six years.
- Opened the Persian Calligraphy and Illumination School in Paris in April 2002, the first in France.
- More than 50 solo and over 100 group exhibitions since 1986, including the Bibliothèque nationale de France (1999) and the National Archives during Nuit Blanche (2006).
- Prizes include the Towhid Festival in Tehran (1997), the Sacred Art Festival (2000) and the Caillebotte award of Yerres (2004).
Taught by: Mohammad Zaman Ferasat, Mehdi Fallah Moghadam, Gholam Hossein Amirkhani, Yadollah Kaboli Khansari
His work
He is living, so his calligraphy is still under copyright and no works can be shown.
Write in the tradition this hand shaped.
Write in this tradition now →Living calligraphers you can buy from — signed originals on paper, from AED 550: Anwar Alhulwani (Thuluth) · Ahmed Alhawary (Jali Thuluth, Naskh) · Rasha Kasim (Kufi) — or every Nastaliq piece the store makes: Nastaliq collection.
Sources
- English Wikipedia: birth, teachers, career, school, exhibitions, awards en.wikipedia.org
- Arabic Wikipedia: teachers, nasta'liq and shikasta 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).