Abu Dhabi, March 25: The Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH) announced its support of the 8th International Calligraphy Competition, which is organised by the International Research Centre for Islamic History, Art and Culture (IRCICA), dedicated to the memory of renowned master of calligraphy the late Syrian Badawi al-Dirani.
Mohammed Khalaf Al-Mazrouei, Director General for ADACH, said “the purpose of supporting this international competition is to revive and encourage the development of classical Islamic calligraphy. Our aim is to encourage artists of Islamic calligraphy to produce works within the framework of the traditional spirit and rules of Islamic Calligraphy and to protect it from trends that have emerged outside of these principles.”
“This attempt will provide a common platform to all Muslim calligraphers to exchange their knowledge and approaches, and enable the development of mutually artistic standards by Muslims all over the world,” said Mazrouei.
This is the 8th competition, which began in March 2009, that covers 10 types of Arabic calligraphy, the types are as follows: Jaly Thuluth; normal Thuluth; Naskh; Taliq Jaly; Taliq (Nastaliq); Diwani Jaly; Diwani; Kufi; Riqaa; and Maghribi, according to Abdulla Al Ameri, Director of Culture and Arts Department, ADACH.
The works had to be submitted in a strict fashion, written only in the traditional ways, in conformity with classical rules, using classical ink and pen movements on traditionally prepared paper.
“There is an award totalling $124,500 for this competition, as it is very important that the tradition of calligraphy is sustained within this region and the skills are preserved”, said Al Ameri.
The jury panel consists of renowned international experts in the field of Classical Islamic Calligraphy, who will meet in April 2010, to examine the submitted works and the winners will be announced in May this year.
IRCICA organises each season in the name of a renowned calligraphy master, to encourage young artists to emulate the examples of the great masters of calligraphy and, at the same time, to commemorate their achievements.
This year the competition was named after Muhammed Badawi al-Dirani (1894-1967), an eminent calligrapher of Syria in the twentieth century, who was born in Damascus. He is called al-Dirani in reference to Dair, a village in the Damascus countryside. He was educated in Quranic schools from his early childhood. He engaged in calligraphy when he was twelve years old. He took lessons from the calligrapher Mustafa Sibai, student of Sahib Qalam, who taught him the rules of taliq, a calligraphy style that he later mastered.
His style was appreciated by professionals as well as the public, and calligraphers followed his example. He was also distinguished in thuluth, the style of Rasa and Mamduh, but followed the example of calligraphers Shafiq and Aziz al-Rafai. He mastered jaly thuluth, as is seen in the inscriptions of the Othman, Rawdha and Thuraya mosques, the Ministry of Justice building and in the People’s Assembly building.
Al-Dirani taught calligraphy at Damascus schools, to many prominent calligraphers such as Zuhair Manini, Abdul Razzaq Qusaibati, Othman Taha, Ahmed al-Mufti, Mahmoud al- Hawari etc. He also taught writers and poets including Nizar Qabbani, Dr. Shakir Mustafa, Dr. Najat Qassab Hassan, Yasser al-Malih, amongst others.
In the spirit to encourage young artists to emulate the examples of the great masters of calligraphy and, at the same time, to commemorate their achievements, IRCICA organised the first international competition in 1986, in the name of Hamid al-Amidi. The second competition, 1989, was organised in the name of Yaqut al-Mustasimi. The third competition was held in the name of Ibn al-Bewwab, on the occasion of the millennium of his death. The fourth calligraphy competition, 1997, was organised in the name of Sheikh Hamdullah, the fifth competition, 2000, in the name of Sayyid Ibrahim, the sixth competition, 2003, in the name of Mir Imad al-Haseni on the 400th year of his death and the seventh competition, 2006, in the name of the Iraqi calligrapher Hashim Muhammed al-Baghdadi.
—Agencies