Hojat Amani, Mina Mohseni

Hojat  Amani, Mina Mohseni / 2013.06.11 – 06.16 / during residence time present caligraphy exhibition “From Persia to Islamic country” and give workshop.

Exhibition “From Persia to Islamic Country”.

For Iranians writing in letters and words is not merely a tool that allows communicating and expressing ideas to the world, but the script becomes a work of art, expression of the artist’s creativity and mastery. The development of the various forms of calligraphy reflects this country’s growth and change throughout history.

Historically, in Muslim culture, calligraphy was used to convey a spiritual revelation and holiness, elevated nature of art, the artistic form of expression used by the Iranians since ancient times. In turn, this led to the richness of artistic imagination and “the supernatural”.

Colourful miniature manuscripts (illuminations) – one of calligraphy elements the artists use to beautify their texts. The oldest paintings in this style were created approximately 1800 years ago, during the Sassanid Empire, Manichaeism confessors decorated the text margins.

Thus, the exhibition will present only a small part from the historical process, some pieces chosen by us – the traditional and the modern approach to this kind of art.

This exhibition consists of three parts reflecting the evolution of Persian calligraphy from the ancient times until the present day.

The first part introduces the Persian calligraphy – artistic writing that persisted for thousands of years. In the long history of Persia there were a number of writing styles, but only two forms withstood the test of time – Nastaliq and Shekasteh.  Each method is presented by samples from the ancient times to the present day.

The second part shows the book art and development of book decoration. Origins of book design and decorating goes back to times before the appearance of Islam, and this art (miniatures in books, their decoration and ornament) was later promoted by the Islamic religion. The illuminations in particular contributed to the flourishing of the Quranornaments and decorative significance. The Quran still remains an inexhaustible source for artists creativity. The exhibition will also present the books decorated with modern painting techniques.

The third part presents how the Persian calligraphy separated from the literature and was launched as a new trend of visual art. In fact, having changed  the “use” of  calligraphy it became not only a tool for communication of ideas and means of expression, but also a way to express personal artistic skills and creativity.

Hojat Amani, the Iranian artist and curator

Participating artists: Asareh Akasheh, Hojat Amani, Shamsaldin Aboulvafa Hosseini, Omid Bana Kar, Mohammad Reza Amouzasd Mahdiraji, Soleyman Miri, Mina Mohseni, Leila Pourkhani, Tayebe Ramezani

Caligraphy workshop will be 16th June, 6 p.m.