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Local
FRIDAY, JANUARY 10, 2014
Calligraphy
By Hassan Abdel Bari
“R
ead: In the name of thy Lord Who createth, (1) Createth man from a clot. (2)
Read: And thy Lord is the Most
Bounteous, (3) Who teacheth by the pen” (Al-Alaq)
It was with these divine words that the revelation of
the Holy Quran to the unlettered Prophet
Mohammed (PBUH) started, which emphasizes the
significance of knowledge, reading and writing in
Islam. Almighty Allah also said: “Lo! We, even We,
reveal the Reminder, and lo! We verily are its
Guardian.(Al-Hijr-9), which is a vow to preserve the
Quran from alteration. These verses show how
important the Holy Quran is in the lives of
Muslims.
Hence stem Muslim endeavors to preserve it in
the best forms using the most valuable materials and
techniques, including calligraphy, which is the vehicle used to ornament and write Quranic scripts in a
manner that suits the greatness of Almighty Allah’s
words. Arabic calligraphy is, thus, one of the most
important forms of Islamic art. The Quran gives calligraphy a solemnity that has contributed to elevating it from its simple functional task to more sublime
aesthetic levels.
Arabic calligraphy is a tool of spiritual evolution
that affects both artists and audiences alike. The
Quran has made souls more sensitive and ennobled
towards sensual pleasures and
made them more qualified to
enjoy supreme spiritual ones.
This is reflected in calligraphy,
ornamentation and applied arts
in general.
With this in mind, Kuwait
Islamic Arts Center (KIAC)
organizes an international convention of Islamic arts, the
sixth edition of which was
held at the Grand Mosque
this month. The head of KIAC,
Fareed Al-Ali, who is also a
prominent Kuwaiti calligrapher and member of the
UNESCO’s International Art
Society, the Egyptian
authority for Arabic
Calligraphy, UAE’s Formative Arts Society and
the Arab Formative Arts and Graphics Society,
said that this year’s calligraphy exhibition included
over a hundred paintings
displaying several types of
scripts as well as a special
exhibition of the Kufic script
in which 60 calligraphers and
illuminators from around the
world took part. He added
that the exhibition also included daily calligraphy and ornamentation workshops for both
adults and children.
Syrian calligrapher Ahmed
Abu Nayef, a mechanical engineer who was born in Syria and
lives and works in Kuwait, said
that he had always had a passion
for calligraphy and was licensed
by calligraphy master Hassan
Celeby to teach calligraphy at
KIAC as well as in schools in both
Kuwait and Syria. He has participated in the writing of a full
copy of the Holy Quran in
Ottoman style.
One of the leading participants in this year’s convention was American calligrapher Elinor Aishah Holland,
who got her BA in
Comparative Religion cum
laude from Temple
University, studied colloquial Arabic at Cairo
University and was
licensed by IRCICA to teach the
naskh and thuluth scripts.
A Quranic,
Islamic art
Dr Mamoun Sakkal
Exchanging Expertise
Speaking to Kuwait Times, Holland said that she was
impressed by her first visit to Kuwait. “The people here
are very friendly and hospitable and I was completely
amazed by the efforts they exert to reach out and promote intercultural and interfaith dialogues,” she said,
pointing out that both the conference and the exhibition provided a great opportunity for Muslim calligra-
phers from around the world to meet and exchange
expertise.
Besides Quranic verses in various styles of calligraphy, the regional political situation was clearly present
in two calligraphy paintings in the Kufi script by
American calligrapher of Syrian origin Dr Mamoun
Sakkal. He wrote the words ‘Syria’ and ‘Aleppo’ in these
paintings using the colors of the Syrian flag but with
separated letters to indicate that his home country was
being torn apart.
“This is my first visit to Kuwait, though my friendship
with Fareed Al-Ali goes way back”, he said pointing out
that they had jointly taken part in several exhibitions
outside Kuwait. He also expressed admiration with the
role KIAC played in promoting Islamic arts. Sakkal was
commissioned to design the corporate Arabic typefaces
for the Burj Khalifa and Armani Hotel in Dubai in addition to the Kuwait-based e-paper Awan. He is also
Microsoft’s Arabic language expert whose Arabic fonts
are widely used in Windows systems.
Tunisian calligrapher Amer Ben Jeddou is a primary
teacher, painter and calligrapher. He started calligraphy
studies in his late youth, depending mainly on tutorial
pamphlets before he received further training supervised by calligrapher Mohammed Yassin. He won
IRCICA’s award in Kufic script twice. “I always feel at
home in Kuwait”, he stressed, expressing appreciation
for the chance to meet fellow calligraphers from various
Muslim countries.
Frequent participant
Hajj Nor Deen Mi Guang Jiang of China has been a
frequent participant in KIAC’s exhibitions since their
inception. He was awarded a certificate in Arabic calligraphy from Egypt in 1997 and became the first Chinese
to be honored with such a prestigious award. He was
ranked amongst the top 500 most influential Muslims
from 2009 to 2012. His work has been displayed in galleries and museums around the world as the first
Chinese-Arabic artist.
This writer’s favorite painting at the exhibition was
one of two painted by Moroccan artist Mohamed Amzil
in which he combined calligraphy and painting using
different techniques and materials. Amzil is the secretary general of the National Association of Plastic Arts
and advisor to the Moroccan Plastic Artistic Syndicate.
Amzil’s two paintings were displayed for sale at the
exhibition for $5,000 each.
Husam Matar, another Syrian calligrapher at the
convention, held live calligraphy workshops before
audiences and wrote whatever they asked, such as
names that he gave away as souvenirs.
Visiting KIAC’s exhibition is becoming more like an
addiction because of this writer;s passion towards arts
in general and the sanctity of using Islamic arts to promote Islam worldwide.