ISLAMABAD, Sept 17: A five-day workshop was held at Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) in an effort to revitalise traditional Islamic calligraphy. workshop, in which seventy students from different colleges and universities participated, concluded on Saturday.

Calligraphy, although a declining skill, is a valuable art. Absence of proper devotion to this art and lack of recognition for its masterpieces have made it prone to extinction.

Nasir Khan Seemab, an expert calligraphist, has been teaching calligraphy for the last 5 years and describes it as “the art of giving form to signs in an expressive, harmonious and skilful manner. “

The art of calligraphy is based on an Arabic script that the Muslims apply to the different languages they used. Calligraphy's roots are based in the original Islamic arts where it was used as a tool for preserving the Holy Quran.

“Basically, the revelation writers in the era of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) introduced this art. They used to inscribe the verses of the Holy Quran on the bark of date trees,” explained Mr Seemab.

Painting and calligraphy are linked with aesthetics and difficult skills. “All human beings bear a spiritual relationship with calligraphy but only innovative and imaginative people can learn this art,'' said Mr Seemab.

During the five-day workshop, Mr Seemab taught Naskh and Nastaliq, the two main forms of calligraphy. Naskh is the simple cursive writing that appeared during 10th century and was used to write the Holy Quran and official decrees. Nastaliq is a cursive style that was developed in the Persian world.

Madiha, a 22-year-old student from NUST started studying calligraphy because she liked it as a medium for expressing her emotions. “I have studied the basics of all the breeds of art but it was actually calligraphy which captivated my senses the most. There is a shortage of institutions that teach this art,'' said Madiha.

For this reason, Madiha appreciated the workshop. “This workshop is a good effort on the part of PNCA to promote this art, but it is insufficient to teach the whole art,” she added.

The students of calligraphy require at least three years for some degree of proficiency.

Owing to the absence of official support and lack of interest from private sector, the institutional study of calligraphy has disappeared.

Fortunately, National College of Arts (NCA) has started regular calligraphy classes and made it a part of their curriculum. Muqtadra Qaumi Zaban has also taken special initiatives to promote this art at national level.However, these steps are inadequate.

Mr Seemab said that the government of Pakistan should work for the development of calligraphy following the footsteps of Iranian government where the art of calligraphy is flourishing under the government's patronage.