October 9, 2004

When man is deep in thought or in the midst of a dilemma, he will unconsciously move his finger to draw circles or lines and keep on doing so until his mind clears and he comes to a conclusion. This is probably the beginning of all writing. The ultimate in script-writing is religious scriptures for any community; for Muslims, it is the Arabic script, naturally.

With time, many forms of lettering developed, the Kufic script, by its geometrical construction, was adaptable to any space and material — from silk squares to the architectural monuments left by Timur at Samarqand. The Naskh is relatively easy to read and write, therefore it appealed to the general population; more Qurans have been written in Naskh than in all the other scripts put together, while Thuluth is known for its elaborate graphics and remarkable plasticity.

Ta’liq, also called Farsi, is a modest cursive script apparently in use since the early ninth century, a favourite calligraphic style among the Persian, Indian and Turkish Muslims. Developing from this, a graceful variety, is the Nasta’liq, which is a compound word derived from Naskh and Ta’liq.

The Pakistan Calligraph Artists Guild (PCG) presented a two-fold programme at the Alhamra Gallery in Lahore, ‘The Fourth International Calligraphy and Calligraph-Art Exhibition’, and the launch of ‘Calligraphy and Calligraph Art’, a book sponsored and co-published by UNESCO.

With representations from 18 countries, “this exhibition has a bigger scope of work than before. There are more countries represented and with two entries of non-Muslim calligraphy, from Italy, in Latin, which is a blend of modern art. Now we hope the Guild will become a truly international forum. People from all cultures are displaying their native script, this is a communication that is dying out in the West, in Japan and China it is at a turning point, but in the Muslim world, with the efforts of the NGOs, we have revived the ‘Art of Lettering’,” Says Mohammed Athar Tahir.

The need of the hour is to preserve the traditional Islamic skills like paper-making, book binding, stone and wood inlay, and other arts of the book, besides having calligraphy included in the curriculum for primary schools.

Rarely has the Alhamra Hall, Lahore Art Council, been so crowded with images of scripts. With a large variety in styles, colours and sizes, the display is immense and the artists speaking different languages, find a uniformity in intent.

From Azerbaijan has come award-winning Asadov Yaver. He uses the strokes of the word ‘Allah’ to form a bird, wings in flight, and the sweeping line is minimal and expressive. Ahmed Mustafa from Britain uses the calligraphic script to travail the canvas. The colours are chained to the form, which interlinks back to itself, and the creative process seems endless and exciting.

From China, Haji Saleh Le Wen Cai emphasizes strokes in traditional Chinese brush painting, with the measure of paint on the bristles varying and the skill of the artist exemplifying the words, their meanings and the emergent image; one being a Chinese sail boat, with sails, the hull and the fluttering standard.

From Iran, Ali Raza Kad Khudai has exhibits that carry a bouquet of the miniatures of the 16th century Suffavid period, the interest in design, the colour of a deep, burnt saffron, the Chinese influence in the treatment of the landscape; the Iranian artist has no alternative but to comply with the standards set by his ancestors.

Another award-winner, Massimo Polello, from Italy, exhibits his Latin script, while Jordan sends forth its artists to display in the Kufic style. With the geometric shapes from Kuwait, Fareed Al Ali exhibits five hundred variations of writing the word ‘Muhammad’(PBUH).

The exhibits are from all over the world and yet, equally on a par and on display, are the works of those who live in smaller cities, but their talent in and devotion to calligraphy are no less. Munawar Muhayudin, from D.G. Khan, places an illuminated building as a background to his calligraphy that runs diagonally across the canvas, while Zulfiqar Ali, from a town called Habibabad, displays his work that has more of a Pakistani flavour, with a centrally placed composition and the focus coming inwards.

Lahore and Karachi have sent great names to the forefront: Khurshid Alam Gohar Qalam, Ismail and Amin Gulgee, Jamil Naqsh, Mashkoor Raza, Rahat Naveed, Dabbir Ahmed, among them — some young, but all very able-calligraph artists.

This is a grand display of work, the artists’ devotion blazes in a myriad of colours, dimensions and character. That the show has been open to accepting contributions from non-Arabic scripts too is commendable and makes it truly international.