KARACHI, Jan 17: Viewers are treated to calligraphy as well as the spiritual aspect of the art at Ahmed Anver's exhibition of Quranic calligraphy that opened at the Citi Art Gallery on Tuesday.

The artist has not given individual names to the exhibits; all the pieces on view have one title: A Celebration of Eternal Message.

In one of his acrylic-on-canvas works, along with the calligraphy done in Kufi script, there are images of domes and minarets in traditional colours green, white, yellow, etc creating the necessary effect required for such a task.

While there is a certain sameness to the exhibits, and nothing wrong with that, two pieces clearly stand out. One is an oil-onpaper work, which reminds the viewer of a beautiful, archaic,well-kept part of a manuscript, and the other, according to the artist himself, is a reworking of a pattern on a ceramic tile from Masjid-iQurtuba (acrylic on canvas).

Speaking to Dawn, Mr Anver said: 'There are two types of Kufi script: old and new. Theformer has ornaments and arches etc while the latter has squares and cubes. I like this script because in the early days of Islam there was no other script. I'm personally inspired by Aslam Kamal's calligraphic paintings.' Mr Anver's effort may come across as traditional, but it is his profound respect for the sacred aspect of existence which comes through his calligraphic work and is more pronounced. Calligraphers are seldom given the kind of recognition they deserve.

There is a group of art lovers that feels since calligraphy is to do with letters, words and a certain kind of typography it is not as arduous an undertaking as some other genres of fine art. Not true. Calligraphy is an equally, if not more, painstaking form because not only does a calligrapher oscillate between making his letters legible and abstract, but also tries to create lines which are aesthetically pleasing and technically sound.

The exhibition will continue till Jan 24.