ISLAMIC CALLIGRAPHY

Hierarchy of raised platforms
Reading as a privilege

Paying homage to the producers of Islamic calligraphy, which then becomes the subject

Lotfollah Mosque, internal column, Isfahan, Iran 17^th CE

Calligraphy to fill up spatial requirements and does not have to satisfy human needs

Front pages of the Quran, 10th and 11th CE

• Usage of ornaments as a symbol of divinity, to transport the viewer to an aesthetic realm away from the mundane

• Deliberate staining of paper to illuminate the text

• Chorus repeatedly uttered while other lines are around it

• Diacritic marks to indicate the tone of the words

Quran, Iran, 11-12th CE

• Verticals and horizontals are systematically arranged across the page

• Full representation of each element

• Does not overwhelm one another

Kufic and Naskh styles designed to represent Noah's Ark, Turkey, 19th CE

• Idiosyncrasy: fusion of Islamic calligraphy with a biblical narrative → cultural and artistic influences

• Secret messages

The word ‘wa’, Turkey, c.15th CE Naskh and Kufic styles combined

• word repeated 4 times, with some words subsequently being added to it without overwhelming it

• resonance in projection

• multiple repetitions as a sonic representation

Quran, Iran, 15th CE

• Two titles on the page

• Sonic aspect of words

Taliqani, Calligraphic page, Iran, 18^th CE

al-Samarqandi, Persian verse, India 17th CE

Poetry comes in from all directions

Bismillah in bird form, Turkey, 19th CE

Muhammad Fathiyab, Prayer in the shape of a falcon, Iran, 19th CE

Bismillah in the form of a bird appearing to drink, undated

Bismillah

"In the name of Allah."

Husayn Ali, Prayer designed in the shape of a horse, Iran, 19th CE