In Jeddah, if you need to give route directions you will surely need roundabouts as reference points. Each roudabout is usually named after what it physically represents.
You have the fist roundabout, which is a huge golden sculpted fist, the flying carpet, the history roundabout, the geometry roundabout, the ships roudabout, and many more.
Other than the roundabouts there are typographic sculptures along the coastline walk and the highways. They represent verses from the Qur'an, poetry, proverbs or abstract non-narrative calligraphy.
Square Kufi or Geometric Kufi composition representing a verse from the Qur'an.
Abstract composition using Arabic Indic and Western Arabic digits
Verse from the Qur'anPhotography credits: Dalia Al Qurashi
I am a Brit with the most basic grasp of the Arabic language (Egyptian, mostly). I have very little knowledge of Arabic history, but I was under the impression that a lot of the beautiful calligraphic forms were in part derived from the restrictions imposed by certain Muslim beliefs on the artistic depiction of humans.
ReplyDeleteThe top two sculptures on this page are undeniably beautiful, but, to me, impossible to read (I can transliterate Arabic, if not understand the translation, but am not used to various handwritten forms, etc, so appreciate that I'm not the target audience). Are these forms legible to "true" Arabs? I ask because I wonder if increased global commercialisation, where imparting information is just as (or more) important as looking pretty in advertising slogans, is a significant contributing factor to any decline in this calligraphic form.
I'm extremely naive in all this, so I would be very interested to hear your response.
Tom
Calligraphy developed as the major Art of Islam because of several things. The main reason is that God's word is sacred so scribes started copying verses from the Qur'an with attention to detail and aesthetics. It developed purely to spread the word of God. Another reason is that there's no point in imitating nature (realism and representation) because nature is God's creation and it's perfect. Human beings cannot make it any more beautiful.
ReplyDeleteHowever you can find depictions of humans and animals in many Islamic artworks but those were not allowed in religious places mainly (mainly originating from Persia).
As for the sculptures, one is perfectly legible, the second one written in Geometric Kufi. It says " la ilaha illa Allah, Mohammad rasoul Allah". It's vertically symmetrical and contains the same verse twice; on the right and reflected on the left.
The first one however is less legible. But the beauty of calligraphy is the time that you take to decipher it and the "Dafka" or rush that you feel when are you finally able to read it. It's legible to anyone who reads Arabic and has the patience to read it and more easily legible to people who know the Qur'an. It's enough for them to read the first 2 or 3 words to know the rest of it. It says " Wa qul Rabbi adkhilni mudkhala sidkin wa akhrijni mukhrajo sidkin wa' ja'al li min ladunka sultanan naseeran"
(وقل رب أدخلني مدخل صدق وأخرجني مخرج صدق واجعل لي من لدنك سلطانا نصيرا).
As for your question about commercialization and globalization, read the article "On the future of the Arabic alphabet" on this blog. Many things are contributing to the decline not of calligraphy but of its appreciation. It's important to know however that calligraphy is different from typography. Typography hasn't achieved the development and sophistication that calligraphy has yet. Calligraphy is a base for good typography though. But each has a specific role. One is for practical use in our everyday life and the other is more of an art and a craft.
Hope my answer was helpful.
Perfectly. Alf shukr!
ReplyDeleteIts Beautifull.
ReplyDeleteI hope invite my blog "Lukisan Kaligrafi Sanggar Zakaria", please.
Thank you Zakkaria. I saw your work on your blog. Interesting use of calligraphy. All the best.
ReplyDelete