Articles
CONTENT | Issue 2
- 1. The word of Editor-in-chief
ISLAMIC ARTS MAGAZINE 02 - 2. View more
SHORT REVIEW OF SOME BASIC PRINCIPLES OF ISLAMIC ARTS - 3. City with rich Islamic tradition
SARAJEVO - 4. Interview: Elvis Hajdarevic
WHILE I WORK, I FEEL FREE, AS A CHILD WHO JUST RESEARCHES - 5. Qur’anic manuscripts
QUR’AN FROM MEHMED KOSKI-PASHA MOSQUE IN MOSTAR - 6. Museum of Islamic Art in Doha (Qatar)
A NEW AWAKING OF THE ARABIC SPIRIT - 7. Interview: Vaseem Mohammed
‘FAMILIAR AND UNFAMILIAR TERRITORIES’ - 8. Book review
THE IMPERIAL CITIES OF MAROCCO - 9. Book review
THE ORIENT IN A MIRROR - 10. World’s famous mosques
SULEYMANIYE MOSQUE - 11. Interview: Julien Breton
FROM CLASSICAL TO LIGHT AND VIRTUAL CALLIGRAPHY - 12. Esse Quam Videri Project
MUSLIM SELFPORTRAIT - 13. City with a rich Islamic tradition
WHO SEES ESFAHAN AS IF HE SAW A HALF OF THE WORLD - 14. The Mosque in Slovenia
MOSQUE IN LOG UNDER MANGART - 15. Art therapy
THE THERAPEUTIC TECHNIQUES
Interview: Julien Breton
FROM CLASSICAL TO LIGHT AND VIRTUAL CALLIGRAPHY
"I started making calligraphy on paper ten years ago and later I discovered ‘Light calligraphy’. It allowed me, with a camera and different lamps, to make calligraphy as photography. This photographic process is called ‘long exposure’ since the camera takes a photo between 30 seconds and few minutes. When I start the camera, I move behind the camera with my lamp to create ‘light calligraphy’. It is a difficult process, because I am not allowed to make an error." (Julien Breton)
IAM: Arab culture is largely present in France and meets with the local French culture. How can this connection inspire an artist and as specifically affect your work and your thinking about art?JULIEN BRETON: I think it is because I always lived near Arab culture. I grow up with Moroccan, Algerian and Iranian people, and I was very influenced by their culture. Nevertheless, calligraphy was far from my education. I discovered it very late when I was 20 years old and the beauty of arabic letters fascinated me (especially diwani and thuluth style). At the same time, I discovered Hassan Massoudy and his contemporary calligraphy, my biggest influence. I started making calligraphy and I tried to reproduce Arabic calligraphy but then I said to myself: “If I am not Arab, and don’t understand Arabic language, why not develop Latin alphabet with an Arabic aesthetic?’’ Therefore, I started developing it in aim to move closer the Latin and Arabic culture who are often put in opposition. My thinking about art is only to create a universal writing style able to touch everybody.
IAM: Does Arabic calligraphy gain a new dimension from the ‘street art’ or graffiti art and a possibility for further typographic development?
JULIEN BRETON: Yes, I think that Arabic calligraphy gain a new dimension from the ‘street art’. It tought me to break the rules and codes from traditional Arabic calligraphy. It also allowed me to go beyond typographic destruction and changes. In France, Marko 93 (http:/www.marko93.com) is mixing Arabic calligraphy and graffiti since 1980. He developed a free style that influenced me a lot. ‘Street art’ allows me to go in different directions at the same time.
The rest of the article you can read in the magazine.