Bahman Panahi

Surrounded by the rich culture of the Persian artistic traditions, Panahi was drawn to the art of classical calligraphy and music from an early age. His practice of these two classical art forms gave rise to new ideas and feelings in his artwork. Panahi studied calligraphy under the direction of the respected Iranian calligraphy masters Gholamhosein Amirkhani, Abdollah Foradi and Yadollah Kaboli. He obtained the title, master, from the Iranian Institute of Calligraphy in 1986 and eventually taught in this institution as well as other calligraphy centres in Iran.

Since 1990, Bahman Panahi has actively participated in calligraphic exhibitions, workshops, lectures, courses and music concerts in five continents.

Panahi graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts in Tehran University and continued his studies in the Ecole des Beaux‐arts de Valenciennes and then at the Sorbonne in France, where he has lived since 2002.

The on-going affair between calligraphy and music led to the subject of his doctoral research paper “The Musicality of Lines and Points”, in which he traces the existing relationship between calligraphy and music.

In addition, Panahi has been invited as guest professor and distinguished artist to the universities of Harvard and North Eastern in Boston, and is now teaching calligraphy at a number of institutions across Paris.

“Calligraphy is the practice of finding harmony and equilibrium between the exterior and the interior…” Bahman Panahi