Description
The art of calligraphy has long been central to Islamic art. From the traditional pen and paper, the sublime art of beautiful writing has found new expressions in the brush strokes, canvasses and even sculptures of contemporary times. Many contemporary Muslim calligraphy artists, fluent in their interpretation of the Arabic letters, have pushed the reaches of calligraphy to an exceptional scale, depth and energy well into the twenty-first century. Alif Lam Ra: Contemporary Muslim Calligraphy presents some of the best contemporary works of calligraphy in the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia (IAMM) collection. Published in commemoration of IAMM’s 25th anniversary, Alif Lam Ra also forms the second volume of IAMM’s ‘Contemporary Muslim Calligraphy’ series. Featuring 42 distinguished contemporary calligraphy artists from around the world, over 200 artworks are highlighted across six chapters, exploring the technical excellence of the artists through significant themes in Islamic calligraphy. The themes include letter forms, colours, the pen and brush, abstraction, spirituality and the Word of God, rhythm and imagination and the rhombic dot, or nuqta.
