Wijdan Al-Hashemi

Born Amman, Jordan and lives in Rome
Education 1993 - PhD in Islamic Art, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) University of London

Exhibitions

Al Hashemi has had over 27 one-person exhibitions and 50 group shows in the Middle East, Europe, Southeast Asia, USA and Australia.

Biography

Wijdan Al-Hashemi is an art historian, painter, art curator and diplomat. Following her undergraduate studies in history at Beirut College for Women, in 1961, she gained a PhD in the history of Islamic art Erom the School of Oriental and African Studies, London, 1993. Her art training began in the late 1950's under Muhana Durra, the leading precursor of the modern art movement in Jordan.

Wijdan Al-Hashemi has written, edited and contributed to a number of publications on traditional and contemporary art from the Islamic world. She is the founder of the Royal Society of Fine Arts (1979) and the National Gallery of Fine Arts (1980) in Jordan, as well as founder and dean of the Faculty of Arts and Design at the University of Jordan (2001-2005). Since October 2006, she is the Ambassador of Jordan to Italy and currently lives and works in Rome.