Ola Alanqar

Ola Alanqar is a PhD student in Islamic Art & Architecture Studies at the Department of Near Middle Eastern Civilizations. She completed her MA in Art History at the University of Toronto. She is an interdisciplinary artist trained in traditional Islamic art methods, with a focus on Islamic Manuscripts and Arabic Calligraphy. Her doctoral research explores the pedagogy of Arabic calligraphy in Istanbul, tracing its transmission through periods of significant linguistic, social and political changes, spanning the late nineteenth-century Ottoman era to the secular state reforms of the Turkish Republic and into the contemporary practice.

Education

• MA, University of Toronto (Art History)
• Specialized Education:
  • Arabic Calligraphy in Thuluth Script (Under the apprenticeship of Master Calligrapher Pablo Casado in Spain)
  • Arabic Calligraphy in Riq’a, Diwani, and Diwani Jaali scripts (under the apprenticeship of Master Calligrapher Shahryanshah Sirajuddin in Turkey)

Current Supervisor(s)

Ruba Kana'an

Publications

Ola's artwork is part of the Canadian Museum of History collection and has been featured in several notable publications, including Propound Patterns (Wooden Books) and the Bayt al-Fann periodical. She was a featured artist in William Morris, Islamic Art and Women Artists, a collaborative publication between Bayt al-Fann and the William Morris Gallery in London, UK, and her work has also appeared in Bayt al-Fann: Islamic Pattern – Contemporary Perspective.

Teaching Experience

• Teaching Assistant for Elementary Standard Arabic (NML110Y)
• Teaching Assistant for The Ottoman Empire in its Classical Age (NMC389H1S)