Bahman Panahi

Bahman Panahi (born September 1, 1967 in Behshahr) is a contemporary Franco-Iranian visual artist, calligrapher, musician, and scholar. Since 2002 he lives and works in Paris, France.
Panahi’s work is intrinsically linked to the artistic concept of “Musicalligraphy”, the exploration of the connections, present and hidden, between calligraphy and music. Combining an eastern and western regard, his inspiration is derived from the Persian millenary poetic heritage.
Panahi’s contemporary calligraphic work often explores particular themes, such as “Musicalligraphy”, “Sun”, “Huwa”, “Two”, or “Carpet of Letters”. This later series is perhaps “the best example of his concept of "Musicalligraphy"; inspired by the Persian carpets, “these vibrant canvasses are filled with intricate details, shapes and strokes in multiple colours and directions.”
He has actively participated in calligraphic and art exhibitions, festivals, lectures and music concerts in four continents. He has been invited as a visiting professor and distinguished artist to notable universities such as Harvard University and Northeastern University.
== Biography ==
Early life
The youngest son of a large artistic and cultivated family, he was born into the milieu of the arts and grew up surrounded by the rich culture of the Persian artistic traditions.
He graduated from the “Institute of Calligraphers of Iran” (Anjoman Khoshnevisan Iran) where he studied under the great masters of calligraphy Gholam Hossein Amirkhani, Abdollah Foradi and Yadollah Kaboli Khansari.
In parallel to his calligraphic studies, he learned to play the Tar (string instrument) and Setar and deepened his musical knowledge with great masters of Persian classical music like Houshang Zarif, Mohammad-Reza Lotfi and Ataollah Zahed Shirazi.
Panahi graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Tehran in 1992 and continued his studies at the École des Beaux-Arts in Valenciennes, France, and then at Sorbonne University in Paris, France, working towards a Ph.D. in visual arts and musicology; the subject of his ongoing doctoral research is on the musicality of lines and points. Panahi has coined the term “Musicalligraphy” to describe his work, a “combination of visual abstraction, calligraphy, and music, his pieces are an exploration of the points where these three arts intersect.”
Career
Since 1995 until the present day Panahi has held numerous solo and collective exhibitions, as well as concerts, in Asia, Africa, Europe and North America.
In 2005 he participated in the creation of the UNESCO International Orchestra, in the project “Melody for Dialogue Amongst Civilizations.”
He was invited as a “Distinguished Artist” to Harvard University in 2010.
In 2015 he published the book "Le jardin de lettres de Rûmî", presenting a trilingual selection of illustrated poems. From 2018 he is co-authoring a deluxe manuscript limited edition on a selection of poems by Hafez, published by Rare Books in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
Following his own artistic concept of "Musicalligraphy", Bahman Panahi has held many performances combining music and the life creation of abstract contemporary calligraphy in the presence of an audience. In these performances, the visual and melodic characteristics of the two art forms, music and calligraphy, come together in his works, as a way of artistic expression that emphasises “the comprehensive link between the eye and the ear”.
The two significant recent solo exhibitions of Bahman Panahi in 2019, “Musicalligraphy” at the Niavaran Cultural Center/Gallery in Tehran, Iran, and "Music of letters", at the Sharjah Calligraphy Museum in Sharjah, U.A.E., held from November 2019 to March 2020, were the reflection of his many years of study, experience and creations on the relation between calligraphy and music.
In parallel to his artistic activities, Bahman Panahi has devoted part of his career to teaching calligraphy, developing his own method, at academic, cultural and artistic institutions in various countries.
He has been invited as a visiting professor to prestigious institutions such as Harvard University, where he shares his expertise in calligraphy and its intersection with music.
Panahi has been involved in teaching traditional calligraphy to students from diverse backgrounds. His students form a community called CalligraVie, which emphasizes the principles of classical calligraphy while exploring contemporary artistic expressions
A joint virtual exhibition of calligraphy by Iranian calligrapher Bahman Panahi and the Chinese calligrapher of Islamic scripts, Noor Deen Mi Guangjiang, opened at the Iranian National Commission for UNESCO in 2020.
==Awards==
Panahi received the First Prize in the Modern Category at the “Multaqa Ramadan” exhibition in Dubai in 2015.
== Personal Life ==
In 2012 he met his future wife Nuria Garcia Masip, a Spanish calligrapher, during a calligraphy event in Malaysia. They married in 2014 and reside in France.
Category:1967 births
Category:Iranian artists
Category:Iranian calligraphers
Category:Iranian musicians
Category:Iranian scholars