Yasser Jradi
1970–2024 · Gabès & Tunis
Yasser Jradi was born in Gabès in southern Tunisia on 9 April 1970. He began as an engineering student, then moved to the Institut supérieur des Beaux-Arts in Tunis, where he specialised in sculpture. Calligraphy did not interest him at school, but the old medina of Tunis opened his eyes to it, and he took a course at the National Centre for Arabic Calligraphy, where he learned the Maghribi script; he valued its freedom and its few fixed rules, and carried it onto modern surfaces. He gave introductory workshops in Maghribi writing at cultural events. Most Tunisians knew him as a singer: in 2005 he founded the band Dima Dima, and his songs about the poor, social justice and the homeland made him 'the singer of the revolution'. The Tunisian site Webdo noted that his music made people forget he was also an accomplished visual artist and calligrapher, one of the innovators of the Tunisian school. He died on 12 August 2024 and was buried in Gabès.
Achievements
- Studied sculpture at the Institut supérieur des Beaux-Arts de Tunis.
- Trained in Maghribi script at Tunisia's National Centre for Arabic Calligraphy.
- Ran introductory workshops in Maghribi writing at cultural events.
- Named by Webdo among the innovators of the Tunisian school of calligraphy.
- Founded the band Dima Dima in 2005; known as a singer of the Tunisian revolution.
His work
He died in 2024, so his calligraphy is still under copyright and no works can be shown.
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, studies, band, death 12 Aug 2024 ar.wikipedia.org
- Yallaa: sculpture studies, training in Maghribi script at the National Centre for Arabic Calligraphy web.archive.org
- Webdo: an accomplished calligrapher among Tunisian innovators webdo.tn
- Tekiano: calligrapher and singer; died in Tunis, buried in Gabès tekiano.com
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).