Tughra of Suleiman the Magnificent
Calligraphy, from Constantinople (Istanbul), Turkey AD 1520–1566 Between about 1350 and 1550 great swathes of the world were occupied by the superpowers of their day – from the Inca in South America to the…
The Farjam Collection of Islamic Art
The Farjam Collection is one of the most impressive privately-owned collections in the world today. Featuring Islamic and pre-Islamic art, Contemporary Middle-Eastern art and International Modern and Contemporary Art, the Collection is born…
Arabic Calligraphy and Type Design
This article presents the Diwani style of Arabic which lead to designing Thuraya, a contemporary yet faithful interpretation of the Diwani style with extensive calligraphic features. Arabic calligraphy is undoubtedly one of the…
Shodo Arabi – the way of Arabic writing
nside the Arabic Islamic Institute in Tokyo, 15 students of calligraphy raptly practice writing verses from the Qur’an. Yet when the call to prayer is heard, few stir. The instructors and students are…
From Middle East to Middle Kingdom
In contrast, the appreciation of Chinese–Islamic works has been negligible. For collectors of traditional Chinese art, these works are not Chinese enough; for Islamic-art collectors, they seem too alien to be considered truly…
Traditional Calligraphy & Modern Art
This paper discusses the traditional art of calligraphy in the contemporary cultural context, with particular reference to recent efforts on the one hand to “modernize Islamic calligraphy” and on the other hand to…
Calligraphy in Islamic art – beyond pen and paper
The development of sophisticated calligraphy as an art form is not unique to Islamic culture. Other examples include Chinese and Japanese calligraphy and illuminated bibles from north-west Europe including the famous Book of…
Sadequain and Calligraphic Modernism
This article examines the career of the immensely productive Sadequain Naqqash (1930-87), Pakistan’s most celebrated artis
SADEQUAIN’S Calligraphy
Syed Sadequain Ahmed Naqvi, Tamgha-e-Imtiaz, Pride of Performance, Sitara-e-Imtiaz (Pakistani Awards), also often referred to as Sadequain Naqqash, was a world-renowned Pakistani artist, best known for his skills as a calligrapher and a…
Smithsonian collection of Qur’anic manuscripts
A collection of 9th–19th-century Korans (intact volumes and detached folios) from Iran, the Arab world, and Turkey at the Freer and Sackler galleries of Smithsonian’s Museums of Asian Art. Folio from a Koran…
LACMA Collection of Islamic Calligraphy
Calligraphic Artwork at LACMA. Click on any image for more details. edwin binney ottoman
Styles of Calligraphy
From the book – ‘Calligraphy and Islamic Culture’. Come, O pen of composition and write letters. In the name of the Writer of the Well-preserved Tablet and the Pen!1 Thus begins a sixteenth-century…
