The Aesthetics of Calligraphy Art in the Kiswah of the Kaaba

Journal of Islamic Thought and Civilization

The Kiswah of the Kaaba, in the Saudi era, is adorned with Arabic calligraphy, executed in the complex Thuluth calligraphy. These calligraphic formations are compatible with the aesthetic and spiritual function of the Kiswah of Kaaba. In addition, the contribution of these formations and Arabic calligraphy creates formative elements of a distinctive aesthetic nature that glorifies the kiswah with a special kind of spiritual beauty associated with the writing of Qur’ānic verses. Arabic calligraphy, especially the Thuluth script, is one of the essential Arabic fonts that express the aesthetic values of Arabic calligraphy in the covering of the Kaaba. Therefore, this study aims to reveal the role of Arabic calligraphy and the characteristics of the Thuluth line, which have enhanced in highlighting the aesthetics of the linear formations of the Kiswah. The study also aims to discuss the aesthetic features and patterns that characterize the linear formations. The method used in this stud...

UMRAN - International Journal of Islamic and Civilizational Studies

Islamic Calligraphy and ornamentation are using to decorate mosques as well as other sacred places all over the Islamic world. This paper provides some sources of information for understanding and studying Islamic calligraphy and ornamentation in the Prophet Mosque interior (Al-Masjid An-Nabawi). Indeed, this paper aimed to highlight the formation aesthetics of calligraphy and Islamic decorations in which the aesthetic values. There are many aesthetic values of the Islamic calligraphy and ornamentation that portrayed in the Prophet Mosque interior. The Prophet Mosque has been selected in the present research due to the uniqueness in its calligraphy and ornamentation. Abdullah Zuhdi a calligrapher who was known as the calligrapher of the two holy sanctuaries (katib al-haramayn). The calligraphy and ornamentation in the Prophet Mosques are testifying to the skill of the master calligrapher. The principles of aesthetics in calligraphy and ornamentation based precisely on the principles...

Journal of Built Environment, Technology and Engineering, 2020

Islamic calligraphy is one of the most highly notable of the Islamic civilisation. This art is the most prevalent in the countries of the Arabs and Muslims alike. Islamic calligraphy is strongly present in many types of buildings, furniture, and clothes with different styles and scripts. The presence of calligraphy in those objects is not only for an aesthetic purpose but also an essential element, reflecting cultural values. In architecture, for example, in a mosque, Islamic calligraphy is the primary tool of Quranic expression, which is combined with a spiritual geometry, thus providing the viewers with aesthetic and cognitive frameworks. Many past kinds of research have emphasised the comprehensive explanation of Islamic calligraphy types and styles in general. However, few studies give concerned about the archetypal characteristics of calligraphy in Muslim architecture. This paper aims to discuss Islamic calligraphy and architecture design based on the literature review and research published in the past few decades. The author adopted this method to investigate the most common types and styles of calligraphy in Muslim architecture that can be used for the archetypal profiling of Islamic calligraphy in public buildings. The analysis results are presented simultaneously with the information that characterises the valuable calligraphy about its types, styles, and shapes relevant to the Islamic architectural buildings. The research findings suggest further investigation of the calligraphy elements essential to sustain its harmony and aesthetic value in the Islamic architectural building concept.

In Ottoman Turkish, calligraphy is referred to as ḥüsn-i khaṭṭ or ‘beautiful writing’. This art form can be apprehended as a pathway involving a disciplined training system that also requires the development of ethical qualities and virtues necessary to increase both the artistic and the spiritual mastery of the practitioner until he attains the authorization to teach the art of calligraphy. Once the calligrapher has received the license (ijāza), he bears the responsibility of transmitting the art to his students. In this presentation I will focus on the influence of mystical teachings in the development of the Ottoman calligraphic tradition. My exploration of this theme starts with the symbolism hidden behind physical calligraphers’ tools, storage boxes, tables, reading stands, and pen cases, paper, ink, book bindings, moving on to an examination of the symbolism of the point and the letters as well as different forms of calligraphic creations. I will pay particular attention to experimentation and innovation in the Ottoman calligraphic tradition, especially its symmetrical compositions, mirror-image writing and pictorial calligraphy, that is “figurative scripture or scriptural figuration” (to cite Valérie Gonzales), which evolved in the context of the Sufi communities in the Ottoman realm, and includes letters, words, and phrases shaped into a range of animate and inanimate forms such as animals, humans, ships, swords, ewers, oil lamps etc. These are considered in terms of their ẓāhir, the ‘apparent’ or exoteric teachings, and their corresponding bāṭin or ‘inner’, esoteric interpretation. I will also consider religious calligraphic forms that emerged over time as protective devices like the votive tablets and talismanic charts bearing striking textual ‘portraits’ of the Prophet Muhammad (hilye), verbal descriptions of his physical being (height, hair colour, demeanour), calligraphed within circular medallions that serve as focal points of the artworks as well as compositions with the most beautiful [ninety-nine] names of God, calligraphic examples of ghubar or ‘dust-like’ miniscule script, and the art of découpage, or paper cutting.

KnE Social Sciences

Contemporary Arabic calligraphy art is related to the practice of handwriting or lettering. Traditional Arabic calligraphy art was used as a way of expression that delivered the aesthetic spirit of the Arabic language. The use of contemporary Arabic calligraphy art by the artist Nja Mahdaoui raises a question dealing with the aesthetic quality of Arabic calligraphy in terms of form and theme. This study discusses the visual characteristics illustrated in contemporary Arabic calligraphy paintings created by Nja Mahdaoui. The visual analysis approach by Feldman was chosen and highlighted through the application of line, shape, texture, balance, repetition, and space. The research concludes that the art of Mahdaoui defies the static conceptions of fine art and the tradition of modern calligraphy. The Arabic calligraphic art created by this artist is a means of communicating a particular aesthetic experience with the spirt of the Arabic language. Mahdaoui seeks to create a total art, wh...

2019

The current research (the distinction of Islamic art in the framework of Arabic calligraphy) is an attempt to study the aesthetic qualities of the Arabic calligraphy inspired by Islamic art with its structural conceptual references and the use of the character of the aesthetic characters according to formations that have a relationship centered on the linear structure of the text, And its transmission from its functionality (blogging) to aesthetic privacy (the decoration) inspired by the rules of the Arabic letters and their origins. The Arabic calligraphy was associated with Quranic texts and the prophetic Hadiths and stages of their functional and aesthetic improvement, And the variety of forms, especially the line of the third, which is proof of mastery of the calligrapher, which is the most beautiful and complete in the qualities of the letters aesthetic, varied and multi-faceted bodies of the calligrapher to another, and lack of study to show the aesthetic side of the lines of ...

Middlesex University Research Repository, 2020

This thesis contributes towards the body of knowledge of the development of Arabic calligraphy, an art form that has passed through many historical stages since the advent of Islam and the revelation of the Holy Qur’an, in its patterns, styles, values and concepts. The relationship between Arabic calligraphy and Graphic design in Saudi Arabian culture and its creative industries is investigated; the arts and handicrafts policy of the Saudi government and the role of these in promoting and sustaining Arabic calligraphy is examined. Finally, the influence of five factors (financial, organisational, educational, social and technological) upon its development is analysed. The research is based on fieldwork conducted in Saudi Arabia (2016-2017). Mixed methods were used to collect data (questionnaire and interview). Fieldwork techniques allowed the opinions of calligraphers and graphic designers and the Saudi public to be known, allowing this study to be conducted from their perspective. Supporting literature was used to place Saudi Arabia within the larger context of arts, handicrafts and the creative industry. This research found that traditional Arabic calligraphic design has undergone an extraordinary development, where many of calligraphic styles have been created in a modern way to be used in graphic products. However, the connotations of the designs have changed in response to commercial requirements; in particular, their original religious contexts and significance are frequently neglected, thus changing people's perceptions, and their appreciation, of Arabic calligraphy. This research approaches this development. The implications of this research indicate a need for deeper understanding of the role that Arabic calligraphy plays as a symbolic representation of cultural heritage, identity of Arab-Islamic community and the language of the Qur'an, in light of challenges such as globalization, mechanization and technology.

Ulum Islamiyyah

Islamic architecture is distinguished by the formulation in various forms and artistic models of the Arabic calligraphy style. Arabic inscriptions are found in several areas of Islamic architecture both in the external elements as well as in the building's internal elements. The art of calligraphy as describing the building has many impacts to improve the different roles that this art offers. This art often has a symbolic significance according to the structure. This study aims to explore existing research into the use of the art of calligraphy as an important component of Islamic architecture. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) as lead to direct this systematic review and 14 related studies have recognized and selected from databases Web of Science, Scopus, and Dimensions. This paper helps to provide some sources of information that can be used by people who would like to understand and study Islamic calligraphy and Islamic art. Two resea...

IBRAAZ, 2017

Presenting six contemporary artists-Graham Day, Hanieh Delecroix, Parastou Forouhar, Farnaz Jahanbin and Katayoun Rouhi-whose work is inspired by traditional arts based on Persian and Arabic script, The Writing of Art explored the plasticity between word, idea and image, traditionally juxtaposed as discrete systems of the visual and the discursive to pose a challenge to the simple notion that globalisation destroys cultural identity. The exhibition, presented at London's Ismaili Centre as part of the Nour Festival of the Arts, repositioned struggles associated with the loss of language and cultural assimilation to present a kaleidoscope of geographies and practices in which cultural identity is not so much lost as it is redistributed through de-territorialization and distance.