Katara Publishing House has released Calligraphy and Calligraphers in Qatar, a documentary study by Dr Ali Afifi Ali Ghazi charting the development of Arabic calligraphy and its place in the country’s cultural identity.
The book examines the art’s historical progress, identifies major stages in its development and profiles calligraphers who helped build Qatar’s artistic and cultural legacy. By bringing together their careers, techniques, and surviving works, the publication presents calligraphy not only as a decorative practice but also as a record of education, faith, and public life.
A central figure is Sheikh Hamed al-Marwani, described as one of the field’s prominent pioneers. Around 1888, he opened a school in his home in Al Jasra, where pupils studied the Holy Qur’an, the foundations of Arabic, reading, writing and calligraphy. The initiative linked the written arts with the wider spread of learning in Qatar.
Sheikh al-Marwani was known for his command of several Arabic scripts, notably Naskh, Ruq’ah and Jali Naskh. Examples and manuscripts attributed to him demonstrate his technical standing and provide tangible evidence of an early calligraphic tradition in the country.
The study also documents numerous other practitioners whose work enriched Arabic calligraphy in Qatar. Their collective contribution, the book argues, helped shape an artistic heritage that remains closely connected to language, scholarship and cultural memory. The profiles give readers a broader view of the individuals behind the development, rather than treating the art solely in terms of styles and dates.
The author is a writer, journalist and academic. He began his career in 1999 as a librarian of the Al-Amal Senior Citizens’ Club in Shubrakhit, Beheira Governorate, Egypt, before moving into journalism. He joined Akhbar (Arabic for news) Al-Beheira Wal-Aqalim as an editor in 2002 and served as its general manager from 2004-2007.
He later served as director of the Egyptian newspaper Al-Sharq Al-Arabi and was appointed general supervisor of Akhbar Kafr El-Sheikh in 2008. That background in research, publishing and journalism informs the book’s documentary approach to cultural history.
Katara Publishing House, a cultural project of the Katara Cultural Village, offers a platform for literary and cultural production. Its programme includes Arabic fiction, cultural studies and research intended to expand knowledge, support writers and strengthen engagement with Arab and Islamic heritage.
Through publications such as this volume, the house seeks to make specialist research accessible to a wider local and international readership.