Have you admired the beauty of Arabic calligraphy and wondered what it would be like to learn it with a master calligrapher? Are you an Islamic arts enthusiast looking for a beautiful, inspiring hobby in 2025?
The Spring Calligraphy Workshop with Hatem Arafa is an online workshop for Edinburgh residents. The Digital Lab for Islamic Visual Culture & Collections at the University of Edinburgh is partnering with renowned international artist and calligrapher Hatem Arafa on a Spring Arabic Calligraphy workshop. This is a wonderful way to enhance your learning with a small like-hearted international community in Edinburgh and around the globe.
The focus of the workshops are to teach Diwani calligraphy, starting from individual letters to forming words and sentences.
Hatem Arafa is an international designer and calligrapher trained at the Traditional Islamic Arts Faculty at FSMV University in Istanbul. His notable projects include the logo and interior calligraphy artworks for Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed Mirage (2023), and commemorative coins for Djibouti (2023) and Qatar’s World Cup (2022), and interior calligraphy for the Cary Mosque, USA (2022).
The workshop lasts over three weeks, with 2-hour lessons per week (total of 6 lessons) held on Saturdays and Tuesdays. The sessions are live online on Zoom (sessions will also be recorded and made available to participants) in English and with native Arabic and Turkish speakers to facilitate.
The sessions take place form 19 April to 6 May 2025. Places are limited, and you can book your space by visiting Spring Calligraphy Workshop.
