RESULTS OF THE 8th INTERNATIONAL CALLIGRAPHY COMPETITION

Abu Dhabi, Istanbul, 15 April 2010

The Research Centre for Islamic History, Art and Culture (IRCICA) is pleased to announce the results of the Eighth International Calligraphy Competition which is dedicated to the late Syrian Calligrapher Muhammad Badawi al-Dirani (1312-1387 H./1894-1967). The International competition aims to preserve and revive the principles and methods of classical Islamic calligraphy by encouraging the present day and future generations of calligraphers to follow the original principles and common concepts established throughout the ages by the masters of this art, far from the foreign influences which are not in conformity with the traditional concept of Islamic calligraphy. The calligraphy competition is organised periodically once every three years.

H.E. Prof. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoğlu, Honorary Chairman of the Jury, attended some of the meetings of the Jury which took place between 5 - 15 April 2010 at the headquarters of the Centre in the Historical Yıldız Palace, in Istanbul. The sessions continued under the chairmanship of Mr. Hasan Çelebi and with the participation of following members:
- Dr. Halit Eren, Director Genral of IRCICA, Chairman of the Organizing Committee;
- Mr. Mustafa UÄŸur Derman, Expert of Calligraphy, IRCICA;
- Mr. Mus’ad Khudair Al-Borsaidi, Professor of Calligraphy, Egypt;
- Mr. Ubaida Muhammad Al-Banki, Professor of Calligraphy, Syria;
- Mr. Belaid Hamidi, Professor of Calligraphy, Morocco;
- Dr. Abdul Reza Bahia, Professor of Calligraphy, Iraq;
- Mr. Jalil Rasouli, Master of Calligraphy, Iran;
- Mr. Mehmet Özcay, Master of Calligraphy, Turkey;
- Mr. Davut BektaÅŸ, Master of Calligraphy, Turkey.
- Mr. Muhammed Tamimi, Coordinator of the competition, his assistant Mr.Said Kasımoğlu, and
- Mrs Özlem Bulut from the Competition Secretariat,
assisted the Jury through its working sessions.

Dr. Halit Eren, Director General of IRCICA and Chairman of the Organizing Committee explained the activities undertaken by the Centre and the competition Secretariat during the last three years to implement this competition at an international level. The eighth calligraphy competition was comprised of the following ten styles: jaly thuluth, thuluth, naskh, jaly taliq, taliq, jaly diwani, diwani, qufi, riq’a and maghribi. The Jury was presented with the 969 works, encoded beforehand, submitted by 683 participants from 31countries. After an election and evaluation process, the remaining best works were chosen for the final decision. The works were examined from all aspects and those worthy of awards and mentions were selected, as shown in the attached table.

The Jury focused on precision in writing and did not comply with any particular school. This will be reflected clearly in the catalogue of winners’ works that will be published. It also took into consideration criteria such as conformity with the rules of calligraphy, performance in writing, creativity of the composition, and observance of the conditions of the competition, disregarding some small deficiencies noticed in some of the relatively good works.

The Jury noticed that the level in jaly taliq style was not as satisfactory as required; and decided to withdraw the first and second awards in this style. The level of some of the works being high in jaly thuluth, thuluth, naskh and diwani styles, the Jury decided to allocate eight incentive prizes, US$1000 each, for these styles. The results are mentioned in the attached list: 28 awards, 32 mentions and 8 incentive prizes, i.e. a total of 68 awards and mentions amounting to US$ 126.500 in total, won by 64 participants from 15 countries.

An exhibition of the winners’ works will be held at IRCICA’s headquarters in Istanbul for a few days; an award ceremony will be organised, and sponsored and hosted, by Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage, on 2 June 2010. A catalogue of the winners’ works will be published, to be distributed to the winners, and certificates will be presented to them.

The Research Centre for Islamic History, Art and Culture (IRCICA) in Istanbul and Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage take this opportunity to express their sincere gratitude and appreciation to the esteemed Jury for its sincere efforts to reach these results; congratulate the winners, and express their wishes of success to all participants in the future competitions.

MAIN AWARDS:

1- JALY THULUTH
1st Award: Muhammed Yaman - TURKEY
2nd Award: Abdurrahman Depeler - TURKEY
3rd Award: Ahmed Fares Rezq Awad - EGYPT

2- THULUTH
1st Award: Sabah Erbilli - ENGLAND
2nd Award: Ayman Hassan KUWAIT - Syrıan
3rd Award: Mahfoodh Dhannoon Younus - IRAQ

3- NASKH
1st Award: Sabah Erbilli - ENGLAND
2nd Award: Hadi Kazım Naif Deraja - IRAQ
3rd Award: Khalil Omar Dabah - SYRIA

4- JALY TA’LIQ
1st Award: Withdrowed
2nd Award: Withdrowed
3rd Award: Ayman Hassan - KUWAIT

5- TA’LIQ (Nastaliq)
1st Award: Alirez Mohebi Sheikhlari - IRAN
2nd Award: Ghasem Memazadeh Ghafari - IRAN
3rd Award:Mahdi Forouzandeh - IRAN

6- JALY DIWANI
1st Award: Mohanad Al-Saai - SYRIA
2nd Award: Abdulrazzak Mohamad Mahmod - U.A.E Syrian
3rd Award: Gamal Mahmoud M. Afify - EGYPT

7- DIWANI
1st Award: Abdulrazak Karakash - SYRIA
2nd Award: Husain Ali Shaqule - SYRIA
3rd Award: Abdulrazzak Mohamad Mahmod - U.A.E Syrian

8- KUFI
1st Award: Muhammad Ashraf Heera - PAKISTAN
2nd Award: Kamel Bahri - TUNUSIA
3rd Award: Amer Ben Jeddou - TUNUSIA

9- RIQ’A
1st Award: Ahmed Majid Khayate - SYRIA
2nd Award: Mahmoud A. Lateef Dosho - EGYPT
3rd Award: Fatma Juma Ibraheem SYRIA

10- MAGHRIBI
1st Award: Jamal Bensaid - MOROCCO
2nd Award: Nur Khamidiyah - INDONESIA
3rd Award: Mohieddine Khcharem - TUNUSIA

To see all the winners please visit: http://www.ircica.org/results-of-the-8th-international-calligraphy-competition-/irc590.aspx
Text: Press Reliese. Photo above (some of the winners), © Copyright 2010, IRCICA.