Ali Omar Ermes
Ali Omar Ermes (born 1945) was a Libyan artist and author. His paintings make use of Arabic calligraphy, often superimposed on a rich-textured ground, and may incorporate fragments of Arabic or other poetry or prose. He had lived in the United Kingdom since 1981, and was the chairman of the Muslim Cultural Heritage Centre in Kensington in west London; he was also active in other intellectual and cultural institutions in that city.
Ali Omar Ermes
- Name
- Ali Omar Ermes
- Born
- 1945
- Birthplace
- Tripoli, Libya
- Died
- 10 July 2021
- Nationality
- United Kingdom
- Occupation
- painter · artist · calligrapher
- Education
- Central School of Art and Design
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Documentary summary
Ali Omar Ermes (born 1945) was a Libyan artist and author. His paintings make use of Arabic calligraphy, often superimposed on a rich-textured ground, and may incorporate fragments of Arabic or other poetry or prose. He had lived in the United Kingdom since 1981, and was the chairman of the Muslim Cultural Heritage Centre in Kensington in west London; he was also active in other intellectual and cultural institutions in that city.
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Ali Omar Ermes (1945–2021) was an artist, calligrapher and painter, of British nationality. The artist was born in Tripoli. Ali Omar Ermes was educated at Central School of Art and Design. Works are held at National Museum of World Cultures.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 26 September 2026
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wikidata · Q4120096 · wikipedia · Ali Omar Ermes
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Ali Omar Ermes • Native Name — علي عمر الرميص • Born — 1945 • Birthplace — Tripoli, Libya • Died — 10 July 2021 • Website — aliomarermes.co.uk
Biography
Biography
Ermes was born in Zliten in Libya in 1945. He studied at the University of Plymouth School of Architecture and Design in Plymouth in south-west England, and after his graduation in 1970 returned to Libya. There he wrote extensively and headed the visual arts section of All Arts magazine. In 1974 he was engaged as a "visual arts consultant" for the World of Islam Festival held in London in 1976, and visited many Islamic countries to identify possible participants in the festival. From 1981 he lived in the United Kingdom. Ermes has participated in various Muslim community projects, written about many important issues and has exhibited in some sixty to seventy exhibitions around the world.
Exhibitions
Exhibitions
Ermes has shown work at the State Hermitage, St Petersburg, Russia (November 2007); the Fowler Museum of the University of California, Los Angeles, USA (October 2007/8); the National Museum of African Art of the Smithsonian Institution, USA (May 2007); Word into Art at the British Museum in London, and later Dubai (2006 and 2008); East-West: Objects Between Culture at Tate Britain (September 2006/7) and Dubai International Financial Centre, Dubai (March 2008).
Articles in Arabic
Articles in Arabic
• Ali Omar Ermes – A link between Art and Literature – Arabic article • جماليات الحرف العربي بخلفية ثقافية أصيلة.. غالية الثمن • انتقال الفنان العربي «علي عمر الرميص» إلى العالمية • علي الرميص في دار الفنون: كل حرف هو صورة تجريدية • الفنان العالمي الليبي علي الرميص ينادي بالسلام بحروف عربية • بحضور شخصيات إسلامية وعدد من السفراءالأمير شارلز افتتح المركز الثقافي الإسلامي بلندن • علي الرميص يرسم الحروف ويرفض مسخ الطبيعة • علي الرميص يصور الكلمة العربية في سياق إنساني • Ali Omar Ermes’ exhibition in Mayfair, London, Arabic article • Ali Omar Ermes and the Arabic Letterform – Arabic article
Articles by Ali Omar Ermes in Arabic
Articles by Ali Omar Ermes in Arabic
• The importance of the Arabic Language • Al Arab fil Gharab Part 1 • Al Arab fil Gharab Part 2 • The Arab media Part 1 • The Arab media Part 2
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1945
Ali Omar Ermes was born in 1945 at Tripoli.
2021
Ali Omar Ermes died on 10 July 2021.
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Ali Omar Ermes”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q4120096: Ali Omar Ermes
General reference · Wikidata
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.'A lifetime of painting', Venetia Porter, Q News No: 302 & 303, London, 1 March 1999
- 2.Anneka Lenssen (2008). "Muslims to Take Over Institute for Contemporary Art": The 1976 World of Islam Festival. Middle East Studies Association Bulletin 42 (1/2): 40–47. .
- 3.Sheila S. Blair, Jonathan M. Bloom (2009). Ermes, Ali Omar. Grove Art Online. Oxford: Oxford University Press. . .
Bibliography printed in the source article · 4
- M. Richardson (1988). The Alphabet of Ali Omar Ermes. Arts and the Islamic World 4 (4): 33–36
- V. Porter (2006). Word into Art: Artists of the Modern Middle East (exhibition catalogue). London: British Museum, no. 18.
- Christine Mullen Kreamer, Mary Nooter Roberts, Elizabeth Harney, Allyson Purpura (2007). Inscribing Meaning: Writing and Graphic Systems in African Art. African Arts 40 (3): 78–91. .
- Reem Abdelhadi, Luma Hameed, Fatima Khaled, Jim Anderson (2019). Creative interactions with art works: an engaging approach to Arabic language-and-culture learning. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching. . .
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessauthority record
General reference
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 18 August 2026.
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