My contemporary works derive their sap from Arab calligraphy roots
Having studied the six styles of Arab Calligraphy that were mainly influenced by the Ottomans, who limited the styles as well as their application, I gained profound knowledge in the artistic and historical aspects. This in turn helped mold my style into what it is today. Additionally, my style has been influenced by many historical and aesthetic questions I had.
The Ottomans considered the different styles of calligraphy sacred and tampering with them was prohibited. For more than five centuries they concealed styles of Arabic calligraphy such as the different types of Kufi and Maghribi. During my research in the subject matter I found a lot of fallacies, gaps, and unanswered questions regarding the history.
In this brief overview, my research as well as my academic background in Fine Arts and Graphic Design enabled me to shed some light on the subject matter and access the essence of the calligraphy and its structure. I had discovered that many calligraphic styles involve visual abilities that can be developed to produce contemporary art. Such an understanding is the very backbone of my work, which is an avant-garde integration between calligraphy and modernity. My endeavors facilitated in producing original calligraphic work that has neither been copied, nor plagiarized from other artworks. It is more of a pairing between the general aesthetic bases of the artworks and the characteristics of Arabic Calligraphy.
Kufi, and Almashriki Kufi. I then studied the characteristics of each style, developed their letters, completed their shortcomings, amended their ratios and reformulated them structurally and synthetically with a modernistic logic. I also worked with other traditional types such as the Jaley Athuluth, Alnnustaleeq and Alddiwani. I worked on them without any restrictions and paid no attention to the traditions used in dealing with the details and structures. This freedom in turn spawned a form of modernity and innovation in my artwork. I have also completed the letters of the Alssonboli style, from which I received only single letters, and produced modern calligraphic artwork by using it.
The two styles that I recreated, starting from the smallest of details and working myself up, are: The Alnnisabury type: I didn't have much to work with. I only had two pages and some random letters. As you can imagine that was not enough to learn all the forms of its letters. I started by studying it and then completed all its shortcomings using a contemporary eye. I produced some modern works, which made many people think that this calligraphic type was created solely by me. The Maghribi type: was previously used to copy the books in Maghreb and Andalusia. In addition, it was applied in free form, so it differs from one calligrapher to another. I did a detailed study of its features, and then I worked on designing a calligraphic style based on those features. It is a geometrical calligraphic type that depends on the relationship between the curves and lines. It is a modern calligraphic style that has roots in the Maghribi free calligraphic type.
In conclusion, I studied my calligraphic heritage in detail with the aim of developing it. My experience and specialty in contemporary graphic design enabled me to access the existing calligraphic work that has been derived from the very roots of the Arabic calligraphy tree. Consequently, allowing me to free it from the sacred golden cage and enabling it to get out from the inertia and conventional prison to the wide horizons of art in order to find its prestigious place among the fine arts
-Mouneer Al Shaarani
