Sabah Arbilli

Sabah Arbilli is a prize-winning British-Iraqi artist who was born in in 1977 and currently lives and works between the UK and Qatar.

He studied civil engineering, but a boyhood fascination with Arabic letter formation led to him shifting his focus to art and gaining a Master’s degree in Visual Arts from the University of Wales.

Arbilli explained in an interview with Artscoops that he found the composition and rhythm of Arabic letters exceptionally beautiful, while at school he was often praised for his handwriting. These words of encouragement prompted him to work as a calligrapher during the holidays, taking on jobs such as creating signs for buildings and wedding cards. He also found some common ground and affiliations with his civil engineering studies, including the use of geometrical form and rules and structures.

Today, he is recognised as a master of Arabic calligraphy, rethinking and redefining the genre through contemporary abstract interpretations of letters and works across a variety of media, including painting, sculpture, ceramics and installation. Through his works, he shares allegorical narrations that sometimes reference autobiographical elements and topical issues, from immigration to political aspects.

Arbilli has explained that he usually takes inspiration from letters and words that mean something to him as a starting point for a piece of work, perhaps reflecting on the context and message if he’s working from a poem or reading. He has described his mind as a blank canvas until he is able to translate a concept into a vision, with all the elements – colour, composition and concept, coming together at the right time, layer upon layer. 

Career highlights include a solo show titled ‘99 Names’, held at Ayyam Gallery, DIFC, Dubai, in which Arbilli explores the referential names and attributes of God that appear in the sacred texts of Islam through 100, 60cmx60cm-sized artworks. Other milestones include the installation of a 7.5-meter-high stainless-steel sculpture on the Corniche in Doha, based on a poem by HE Sheikh Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani, the founder of Qatar, which Arbilli created for Qatar National Day. 

Arbilli’s work has been shown extensively throughout the Middle East, Europe, North America and Australia in galleries and institutions, and at art fairs and biennales. 

Recent solo exhibitions include: ‘Transcendent Text: Exploring Universal Values through Islamic Calligraphy’, Qatar America Institute for Culture, Washington, US (2020); ‘Decisions’, Dar Al Funoon, Kuwait (2016); and ‘99 Names’, Ayyam Gallery, DIFC, Dubai (2015).

His work has featured extensively in collectives and group shows worldwide, including in: ‘Calligraphy from the Arab World’, Artscoops (2020); ‘Spectrum’, Castor Gallery, New York (2016); ‘As It’s Written’, Artscoops

(2016); ‘Start’ at Art16, Dubai (2015); and with Janet Rady Fine Art at Art Bahrain (2015). 

In addition, he has taken part in shows held at Artspace Hamra (2015); Bait Muzna gallery, Oman (2015); Katara Gallery, Qatar (2015); and Qatar Foundation, Qatar (2015).

His works feature in the national collection of public sculpture in Qatar; the Islamic Museum of Australia, where it was selected for the opening; and the United Nations headquarters in Switzerland, where he held a solo exhibition in 2010, among others. Arbilli is regarded as an expert advisor and consultant in the field of calligraphy.