Calligraphy makes sweeping strokes at the El-Sawy
CAIRO: For Ramadan, the El-Sawy Cultural Wheel highlights one of the most important forms of Islamic art: calligraphy. Featuring 32 contemporary artists from Egypt, this show contains a variety of types of calligraphy, ranging from the simple and traditional, to bright and modern. Artists use four of the five fonts of Arabic calligraphy, Kufi, Farsi, Thoulouth, and Diwani – since the fifth, Naskh, appears only in the Quran.
Oneartist, Hani Baher, trained for six years in various Cairo calligraphy schools, before becoming a professional artist two years ago. Using watercolor and ink, his fluid black Kufi and Diwani script stands out against cream and red backgrounds. As a child, Baher always loved to write and paint, but he longed for a challenge. The complexity of calligraphy caught his interest and he has never looked back.
Radal Al-Anwar has chosen less traditional backgrounds for his script. His watercolors and pastels feature the rounded Diwani script floating into a sunset, and “Ramadan Kareem written in the shape of a fanous, a Ramadan lantern. Al-Anwar has always been interested in painting, and graduated from the faculty of art in 1986. He tries to make the backgrounds of his work reflect his religious beliefs. For instance, he writes his script on landscapes because he believes that Allah combines all elements in the world – earth, air, water, and light.
In contrast to Al-Anwar’s colors, Osman El-Tuni paints all of his script on plain, black backgrounds. To create as much contrast as possible, and emphasize the value of the Prophet Mohamed’s words, El-Tuni paints with real gold and silver, in addition to white and green oil paint. El-Tuni is 61, and has been an artist for his whole life. He did not receive much encouragement as a boy, because his father wanted him to go into business. But he has always appreciated his gift for art and love of calligraphy. Now, in addition to creating his own art, he teaches calligraphy in Cairo.
For those interested in seeing a variety of interpretations of calligraphy, El-Sawy Cultural Center’s show is certainly worth seeing. The show runs from October 11-19, at El Sawy Cultural Wheel, 26th of July Street, Zamalek.
