Fatma Al Sharshani () is a Qatari artist and calligrapher. She has received commissions from Qatar Museums and Paris Saint Germain. One of her designs featuring Arabic writing was featured on the football kit worn by PSG in their 2025

Trophée des Champions The Trophée des Champions (, ) is a French association football trophy contested in an annual match between the champions of Ligue 1 and the winners of the Coupe de France. It is equivalent to the Super cup, super cups found in many other count ...

match in Doha, the first time Arabic had featured on the club's sportswear.

Career

Al Sharshani has a degree in Chemistry and Food Science from

Qatar University Qatar University (; transliterated: Jami'at Qatar) is a public research university located on the northern outskirts of Doha, Qatar. It is the only public university in the country. The university hosts twelve colleges – Arts and Sciences, Bu ...

. She began to study calligraphy in 2011, enrolling in courses at the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha. Her first mural was commissioned by Qatar Museums in 2020. Titled 'Al Noor' it has a circular design and is situated in Qatar Post Park. Al Sharashani stated that the work was inspired by the poetry of Jassim bin Mohammed Al-Thani. In 2021, as part of the Qatar-USA Year of Culture, Al Sharshani was jointly commissioned by Portland Street Art Alliance and Qatar Museums to create her third mural in

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

, USA. Entitled ''Never Ending / Endless,'' the circular mural uses the

Diwani Diwani is a calligraphic variety of Arabic script, a cursive style developed during the reign of the early Ottoman Turks (16th century - early 17th century). It reached its height of popularity under Süleyman I the Magnificent (1520–1566 ...

script, chosen by Al Sharshani since it is a particularly curved calligraphicstyle. She also uses Naskh and

Thuluth ''Thuluth'' (, ' or , '; , ''Sols''; Turkish: ''Sülüs'', from ' "one-third") is an Arabic script variety of Islamic calligraphy. The straight angular forms of Kufic were replaced in the new script by curved and oblique lines. In ''Thuluth'', ...

scripts in her calligraphic work. The mural is located at Southeast Alder Street and 11th Avenue. In 2024 Al Sharshani travelled to Morocco as part of a project by Qatar Museums to commission artists to create new work for a 2025 exhibition, entitled ''Ektashif: Morocco.'' She has twice been commissioned by the football team Paris Saint Germain (PSG) to create new artwork. The first commission - a

skateboard A skateboard is a type of sports equipment used for skateboarding. It is usually made of a specially designed 7–8-ply maple plywood deck and has polyurethane wheels attached to the underside by a pair of skateboarding trucks. The skateboard ...

design - was made in 2023 as a partnership between PSG and Clown Skateboards. The second commission was for a design in Arabic to feature on shirts worn at the

match played on 5 January 2025. This was the first time that Arabic writing featured on PSG kit. Al Sharshani described the commission as "a wonderful opportunity to showcase our slamicculture on an international stage". She chose the

script for the football kit, as it is clear to read and combined well with the rest of the characteristics of the kit.

References

External links

Through Her Eyes: Conversations with Artists
(joint interview)
Fatima Al Sharshani in collaboration with Samover Carpets
(image of work) {{DEFAULTSORT:Al Sharshani, Fatma Qatar University alumni Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Qatari women artists Women calligraphers Women graffiti artists Women muralists