Ahmed Lamen

Born in 1980 in Tripoli, the capital of Libya, he graduated from the Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Al-Mergib University in 2006. Between 2006-2008, he learnt Tuluth and Naskh from the calligrapher İbrahim el-Mısratî and received his ijazah (authorisation) in 2008. In 2010, he completed his master's degree in Civil Engineering at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM).

Between 2011 and 2014, he worked as a lecturer at the Faculties of Engineering and Education at Al-Mergib University and taught engineering and calligraphy. In 2014-2016, he took Tuluth and Naskh lessons again from calligrapher Ahmed Koçak in Istanbul. In 2016, he started his proficiency in art programme at Fatih Sultan Mehmet Vakıf University, Traditional Turkish Arts Department. In this process, he took Tuluth, Jali Tuluth, Naskh, Diwani, Jali Diwani and Kufic lessons from masters such as Davud Bektaş, Hüsrev Subaşı and Ali Toy.

In 2018, he was granted a second ijazah in the field of Thuluth-Naskh from Hasan Çelebi, Davud Bektaş, Ahmed Koçak, Mahfuz al-Bu'eyşî and İbrahim al-Mısratî teachers. The founder and former CEO of the Libyan Calligraphy and Islamic Arts Association, he has been teaching online courses in calligraphy for 14 years to students from different countries around the world.

In 2004, he won the first prize in calligraphy in the art competition between universities in Libya. In 2016, he received the incentive award in Thuluth at IRCICA's 10th International Calligraphy Competition and the second prize in Thuluth at the 4th Masters of the Future International Calligraphy Competition organised by Zeytinburnu Municipality. His works have been exhibited in many exhibitions in Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Malaysia, Medina, Hong Kong, United Arab Emirates and Türkiye.