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WIJDAN ALI WIJDAN ALI

WIJDAN ALI, Jordan (1939)

Bio

HRH Princess Wijdan Ali in 1939, in Baghdad, Iraq, is a Jordanian painter, art historian, curator, and cultural diplomat. Raised in Amman, she was born Wijdan bint Fawwaz Al-Hashemi, a descendant...

HRH Princess Wijdan Ali in 1939, in Baghdad, Iraq, is a Jordanian painter, art historian, curator, and cultural diplomat. Raised in Amman, she was born Wijdan bint Fawwaz Al-Hashemi, a descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and held the title of Sharifa, denoting noble lineage. In 1961, she earned a BA in Art History from the Beirut College for Women (now the Lebanese American University - LAU), and later completed an MA and PhD in Islamic Art and Archaeology at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, in 1993.

Wijdan began painting in 1964, developing a practice that draws on the formal and spiritual language of Islamic art. Her work blends abstract expressionism with traditional Arabic calligraphy, often using luminous mixed media on Japanese cotton paper. Her recurring themes center on tragedy, particularly within the Islamic and Arab worlds, including historical events such as the Battle of Karbala.

A prominent figure in Jordan's cultural landscape, she founded the Royal Society of Fine Arts in 1979 and the Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts in 1980. In 2001, she established and led the Faculty of Arts and Design at the University of Jordan. As a diplomat, she was the first woman to join Jordan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1962, later serving as ambassador to Italy. She has also represented Jordan at the United Nations and worked for the UNDP in Amman. The princess left the Jordanian diplomatic service when she married Prince Ali bin Nayef in 1966.

Wijdan has published extensively in both Arabic and English on Islamic and contemporary art, and has taught at universities across the Middle East, Europe, and the United States. Her artworks are held in international collections including the British Museum, the Ashmolean Museum, the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C., and the National Art Gallery in Pakistan.

She currently lives and works in Amman, Jordan.

This is a short biography. The full version , along with research, CV and sources will be posted soon. Stay tuned and visit us often or become a member to be notified of our updates.

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CV

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2019

Wijdan - Opaque transparency, Wadi Finan Art Gallery, Amman, Jordan

2003 – 2004

Three Phases in Four Decades,Darat Al Funun,The Khalid Shoman Foundation, Amman, Jordan

Selected Group Exhibitions

2025

Nadia Saikali & Her Contemporaries, Maraya Art Centre, Sharjah, UAE
Women's Agency in Arab Art: Kinship, Education, and Political Activism, Lebanese American University, Beirut, Lebanon

2023

Parallel Histories, Sharjah Art Museum, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

2022

Memory Sews Together Events That Hadn’t Previously Met, Sharjah Art Museum, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

2021

Taking Shape: Abstraction from the Arab World, 1950s - 1980s,McMullen Museum of Art, Boston College, Newton, Massachusetts, United States of America

2020

Taking Shape: Abstraction from the Arab World, 1950s - 1980s, Grey Art Gallery, New York University, New York, United States of America

2019

About Archives In Jordan, Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts, Amman, Jordan

2013

Tajreed – A selection of Arab Abstract Art 1908 – 1960, CAP Kuwait, Kuwait City, Kuwait

Publications

1999

Wijdan Ali, The Arab Contribution to Islamic Art: From the Seventh to the Fifteenth Centuries
Wijdan Ali, An Ocean of Dreams

1997

Wijdan Ali, Modern Islamic Art: Development and Continuity
Wijdan Ali, Modern Art in Jordan

1992

Wijdan Ali, Message of Islam

1989

Wijdan Ali, Contemporary Art from the Islamic World

Awards and Honors

1994

Appreciation Award from the International Council for Women in the Arts (ICWA), California, United States of America

Affiliations & Membership

2006

Appointed as Jordanian Ambassador to Italy, Italy

1980

Establisher of The Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts, Amman, Jordan

1979

Founder and President of the Royal Society of Fine Arts, Amman, Jordan

Collections

Ramzi and Saeda Dalloul Art Foundation, Beirut, Lebanon
Darat Al Funun – The Khalid Shoman Foundation, Amman, Jordan
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Amman, Jordan
Jordan National Gallery, Amman, Jordan
Centre d’Art Vivant de la Ville de Tunis, Tunis, Tunisia
Musée d’Asilah, Asilah, Morocco
Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
The British Museum, London, United Kingdom
The National Gallery, Islamabad, Pakistan

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Press
AAwsat_2004.pdf
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Addustour_2003.pdf
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Breaking The Veils_ Women Artists from the Islamic World _ The Interfaith Centre of Melbourne.pdf
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Breaking the Veils_ Women artists from the Islamic World _ Anna Lindh Foundation.pdf
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Elaph_2006.pdf
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Breaking the Veils_ Women Artists from the Islamic World _ Yale Macmillan Center Newsletters.pdf
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تعرض مجمل تجربتها في دارة الفنون_ الفنانة الاميرة وجدان علي تطرح في عملها التشكيلي تقنيات متنوعة وصولا الى جوهر الجمال.pdf
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الاميرة وجدان علي تزور رواق البلقاء _ صحيفة الرأي.pdf
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Princess Wijdan Ali, Interview.pdf
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وجدان الهاشمي الأميرة التي انتصرت لفنها _ فاروق يوسف _ صحيفة العرب.pdf
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الأميرة وجدان تحاضر عن التجربة الأردنية في الفن التشكيلي - جريدة الغد.pdf
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Forces of Change_ Artists of the Arab World - Mathqaf.pdf
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968-1920-1-SM.pdf
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تعرض مجمل تجربتها في دارة الفنون_ الفنانة الاميرة وجدان علي تطرح في عملها التشكيلي تقنيات متنوعة وصولا الى جوهر الجمال.pdf
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بعيدا عن السياسة مع الأميرة وجدان علي.. «أم عباس» .. اعداد ملك يوسف التل _ صحيفة الرأي.pdf
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Exhibitions
TAJREED – A SELECTION OF ARAB ABSTRACT ART 1908 – 1960
MEMORY SEWS TOGETHER EVENTS THAT HADN’T PREVIOUSLY MET
The Power of Words
Taking Shape: Abstraction from the Arab World, 1950s–1980s

WIJDAN ALI Artwork

Um Kulthum, Women of Karbala

WIJDAN ALI, Jordan, 1991
99 x 83.5 cm

Wadi Rum

WIJDAN ALI, Jordan, 1978
89.5 x 131 cm

Spring Love

WIJDAN ALI, Jordan, 2009
152 x 107 cm

Zainab, Women of Karbala

WIJDAN ALI, Jordan, 1991
99 x 85.3 cm

Sukaina, Women of Karbala

WIJDAN ALI, Jordan, 1991
99 x 83.5 cm

Colors of Love Series

WIJDAN ALI, Jordan, 2012
80 x 63.5 cm

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