Rachid Koraichi (Algerian, b. 1947)

Rachid Koraichi's work is based around calligraphic-seeming symbols, which though of indecipherable meaning are highly expressive. This work combines Arabic characters with Chinese-style ideograms, and recalls talismanic shirts and panels used historically in the Islamic world. Koraichi works in a number of different media, sometimes embroidering his symbols in gold on silk banners, and at other times inscribing them on to ceramic or cutting them out of steel, to create a new universal language.