Beauty?
Calligraphy tools

The calligraphy art has its very simple tools. Reed pens, traditional black soot ink and the paper. It can only be learned from a master calligrapher. The weekly lessons start with a line of prayer “Oh My Lord! Make this easy, never make it hard. My Lord! Let this end with the goodness.” To be able to understand the beauty in the letters the apprentice may spend at least five years with the master and can not sign his works or attempt to teach someone else before the master permits to do so. This is why not only the manuscripts were valued by the sultans in the past, but the calligraphers themselves were kept as part of their treasury too. Today the same techniques, same tools and same recipes are still preferred by the calligraphers not just because they were part of a tradition but because they have those undeniable characteristic values in terms of creating the beauty in the letters.

 
Speaking Art
BismAllaharrahmanarrahim

Speaking Art: An Exhibition of Calligraphy
23 September 2006 – 21 January 2007
Calligraphy is the seminal art of Islam. It continues to exist - flourishing or marginalized - in all Muslim cultures for over fifteen centuries.

The exhibition will acquaint visitors with the many historical scripts related to Muslim cultures as well as introduce them to the exciting new international genre that has emerged in contemporary art, in the last few decades. Speaking Art will represent work from a range of countries, including Pakistan, India, Turkey and the United Kingdom. A wide variety of traditional and modern media will be depicted such as works on paper, leather, ceramics, metal ware, glass and multi-media. The exhibition will be further contextualised by historical material from the Cartwright Hall Collections .