(BY ROSHIBA KHAN) Hailing from artistic baseline one tends to indulge in different forms of art. Of all the known forms of art, some are at the crest of glamorous ocean, others at the surface and few at the trough trying to survive. The art of calligraphy is among the trough struck arts dying out at double the pace of evolution of multi-media. The fall of former is directly related to the rise of latter as the contemporary technology facilitating the lost essence with a click of mouse has failed to escort it to the surface.
A bouquet of sensitive visionaries, who smelt the corpse of dying art, came together and established a platform. Here, the talented artisans bestowed with aptitude clubbed with media forum and most radically the women folk from the slum dwelling areas, have arrived at a unique presentation of calligraphy that not just attracts viewers but forces them to ponder over the loss and what it takes to keep the art alive!
Zaheeruddin Ali Khan, managing editor of the “Siasat”, a daily Urdu newspaper of Hyderabad is the man who struck the chord, unwound the nostalgic carpet and brushed off the dust accumulated over years. The man along with his team, run a parallel organization in Hydrabad and stretch it to different parts of country. The current zone for showcasing the elapsed skill is New Delhi at M F Hussain Art Galley of Jamia Milia Islamia campus.
The idea is to bring calligraphy back to life and simultaneously generate employment. The slum dwelling ladies are being guided and given opportunity of coming up with innovative ways of calligraphy with their wit and will and thus the skill has made the Art take a fresh gasp.
The exhibition showcases an elucidation of “Surah Al Rehman” approached by amalgamating paintings and calligraphy, an exotic combination describing the verses. Surah Al Rehman is one wonder among all Surahs they have worked on in uniform strength from Al-Quran. Besides calligraphy there are paintings done without any use of colors, brushes or pencils in complete wood endowing a perfect site of sepia paintings. The paintings present primitive Mecca (about 50 to 100 years back) along with Masjid –e- Nabwi at Madina.
The exposition represents the art of calligraphy in the Arabic script spreading the word and the art effectively. Urdu language is facing decline for some years now and to keep it alive the organization has specialized in using Urdu language in Hindi and English scripts as modern day text messages shared by common people in day today life. It makes Urdu easily readable. The work is under process and the website has started showcasing news in the same format with a translated version.
roshibakhan@gmail.com
Courtesy: Kashmir Images
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