MASHQ: Where Art Meets Tradition
MASHQ is a workshop in the UAE. Two founders, a laser cutter, a shelf of acrylic and a great deal of hand-finishing — and, since 2026, a calligraphy engine on the web that anyone can use for free.
What we make is Arabic calligraphy and Arabic-inspired ornament turned into objects you use: trays that come out for guests, boxes that hold dates through Ramadan, jars, tissue boxes, name pieces, wall art. Nothing is warehoused. Every order is cut after you place it.
How a piece is made
Every piece starts as a drawing — a phrase in a classical script, or an arabesque pattern — and becomes an object here: the design is cut with laser precision, then assembled, sanded, cleaned and inspected by hand before it reaches a box. The precision comes from the material and the machine; the care comes from the people finishing each piece.
Most pieces are produced within five to seven working days before dispatch, and personalised work adds a step for confirming the spelling and approving the layout. Every product page states its own time, and the page is the promise. (Why we work in acrylic is in the journal.)
Design it yourself
Since 2026 the workshop has a front door on the web. At Mashq Studio anyone can compose real Arabic calligraphy — eight classical scripts, twenty-seven typefaces, true vector output, no account and no charge — and then order the result made here in the UAE. Your design, our hands. It is not a mockup generator: what the screen draws is what the cutter follows.
The calligraphers
Most calligraphy sold as décor is unattributed — a phrase, a font, no hand behind it. Some of ours is different, and we say which. Anwar Alhulwani works in Thuluth; the pieces of his we carry are originals, written once by hand on burnished paper and signed. Affanah Zohir also works in Thuluth; hers we carry as fine-art prints on archival paper. An original and a print are both worth owning and they are not the same thing, which is why the price differs and why we label it. Meet them here.
Getting it to you
Ready-made décor is delivered free anywhere in the UAE. Calligraphy prints, paints and original artworks are AED 50 per order in the UAE for up to two pieces. Prints travel internationally, rolled in a tube; originals stay in the UAE unless you send your own courier. The exact amount is shown at checkout before you pay.
Who you are buying from
MASHQ is operated by 1click2open LLC, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Payment is taken in AED on Shopify's own checkout, and every price includes VAT where it applies. If anything on this site disagrees with what you see at checkout, the checkout is right and we have a mistake to fix — tell us.
