Joumana Medlej

Joumana Medlej is an artist, author and educator from Lebanon, best known for her work with early Arabic calligraphy, from which her visual language is derived. She also specialises in ancient and natural art materials having abandoned store-bought paints for the old ways of natural colour-making. She prepares her own supplies using mediaeval techniques, and forages for pigments and dyes wherever she goes. She's now drawing on her practitioner’s experience to translate Abbasid-era Arabic manuals into English and bring the voices of past masters to a general audience. Joumana is now based in East London and works out of her Hackney Wick studio. She teaches Kufi calligraphy and ink making, and has authored two books on art technology: Inks & Paints of the Middle East and Wild Inks & Paints.