Calligraphic Designation by Azra Hamzagic

Azra Hamzagic's research of this cycle started with a dot on a white background. The dot was further developed into many shapes and allowed the letters to form a unique aesthetic category.

Hamzagic created her work to engage the Arabic letters' abstract dimensions with the values and meanings they carry. According to the artist, "A dot started its journey and became an elif." This statement affirms her understanding of the traditional framework of calligraphic artistic practice. However, her expressive strokes aim to shift the established "reading" of Arabic letters to the point of "seeing and experiencing" them as a visual, almost abstract exploration. So her works can be perceived as paintings rather than traditional calligraphies.

Azra Hamzagic's works belong to a specific visual manifestation of the Arabic alphabet, where the freedom of presentation of the letters and their expressiveness becomes a context for itself. While focusing on visual, her works remain consistent with the values nurtured within the framework of the tradition. She uses words like Paradise, Mother, Love, Patience, which are just some of the nurtured values within Islamic culture.

Calligraphic Designation by Azra Hamzagic / Photo courtesy of the artist