Calligraphic Gardens

International calligraphers reveal their amazing skills and talent

Under the patronage of HH Sheikh Dr. Sultan Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member, Ruler of Sharjah, the Cultural Affairs Department at the Sharjah Department of Culture has organized the 21st edition of the Sharjah Islamic Arts Festival (SIAF). As part of the 21st edition of SIAF, the Sharjah Centre for the art of Arabic Calligraphy and Ornamentation presents various exhibitions featuring classic and contemporary Islamic calligraphy.

Calligraphic Gardens is featuring 3 major exhibitions: 'The Eternal Letter' by Mohammed Al Nouri from Iraq; 'Coloured Letters' by Alparslan Babaouglu from Turkey; and 'Discovery in Sharjah' by Emel Turkmen and her students, also from Turkey. All three exhibitions are showing 113 captivating calligraphic works.

The exhibitions officially opened in the presence of His Excellency Abdullah Al Owais, Chairman of Sharjah Department of Culture and Information; Mohammed Ibrahim Al Qaseer, Director of the Department of Cultural Affairs, Farah Qassim Mohammed, Islamic Arts Festival Executive, the respected guests, the artists and the media.

Created by international calligraphers in classical scripts such as Kufic, Thuluth, Muhaqqaq, Naskh, Rihanni, Diwani, Riqqa and Nestaleeq, the exhibited calligraphic panels reveal their amazing skills and talent.

'The Eternal Letter' by Mohammed Al Nouri

Mohammed Al Nouri, a renowned calligrapher from Iraq, presents 25 calligraphic artworks. The exhibition comprises of calligraphic works that were created in the classical art form, as well as paintings, which were created with ink and gold on the handmade paper.

Most of Al Nouri's calligraphic artworks present verses from the Qur'an and Hadith, while some of them present poetry, from the Andalusian poetry to poetic verses depicting the Prophet, peace be upon him. The most common scripts Al Nouri uses in his calligraphic artworks are Diwani, Muhaqqaq and Thuluth.

The artist gave a tour of his works to respected guests, His Excellency Abdullah Al Owais, Chairman of Sharjah Department of Culture and Information and Mohammed Ibrahim Al Qaseer, Director of the Department of Cultural Affairs.

Mohammed Al Nouri explains his artwork to His Excellency Abdullah Al Owais, Chairman of Sharjah Department of Culture and Information and Mohammed Ibrahim Al Qaseer, Director of the Department of Cultural Affairs / Photo Â© Islamic Arts Magazine

'The Eternal Letter' by Mohammed Al Nouri, installation view / Photo Â© Islamic Arts Magazine

Visitors admiring the artworks / Photo Â© Islamic Arts Magazine

Group photo, the artist with the respected guests / Photo Â© Islamic Arts Magazine

'Colored Letters' by Alparslan Babaouglu

Alparslan Babaouglu is a renowned ebru artist from Turkey. Ebru is a traditional Turkish technique of painting on water, also known as marbling. The artist is using stencils of calligraphic compositions in combination with ebru technique. The stencils have been used in traditional Turkish art for many centuries, however using stencils to produce calligraphic plates has been invented by the famous Turkish calligrapher, bookbinder and ebru artist Necmeddin Okyay during the last century.

Babaouglu was a student of the late ebru master Mustafa Duzgunman, who was, in turn, the student of Necmeddin Okyay.

The artist Alparslan Babaouglu exhibited 20 artworks but was unfortunately not present at the opening, so Mohammed Al Nouri toured his ebru artworks with the respected guests.

Mohammed Al Nouri with the guests touring the exhibition of Alparslan Babaoglu / Photo Â© Islamic Arts Magazine

'Colored Letters' by Alparslan Babaouglu, installation view / Photo Â© Islamic Arts Magazine

Visitor at the exhibition 'Colored Letters' by Alparslan Babaouglu / Photo Â© Islamic Arts Magazine

'Discovery in Sharjah' by Emel Turkmen and her students

An interesting exhibition 'Discovery in Sharjah' presents 68 artworks by Emel Turkmen and her students. The artworks include paintings and calligraphic designs created in traditional illumination techniques dating from the Ottoman period, as well as 15th-century babanakkas style.

Emel Turkmen was born in Istanbul (1976). Her postgraduate theses was titled History of Turkish Book Binding and Binding Features of 15th-16th Centuries. She graduated first from the Traditional Turkish Handcrafts Department. In 2017, Turkmen won Al Burda International Tezhib Competition, awarded by Abu Dhabi Ministry of Culture, UAE.

The exhibition emerged after a series of consultations between the artist and her numerous students. By using unique calligraphic designs the artist and her students communicate the verses from the Qur'an and Hadith.