The work of Mouneer Al Shaarani, prior to being that of a calligrapher who is passionate about Arabic calligraphy, is the work of a designer, and the work of a graphic designer experimenting with calligraphy and using it in new and various functions. Al Shaarani worked on each letter as a term by itself, a term perfected throughout the ages by many artists that had taken it to high levels of perfection and beauty, until it reached arithmetical and geometrical standards and rules, along extremely various layouts, as diverse as the cultures in the Arab world, from east to west. Al Shaarani resumes this long career with a refined artistic sense, and a vast knowledge in the history of Arabic calligraphy that has its modernization. He has revived many of the forgotten layouts, and found some in old manuscripts, and devoted special attention to the aesthetics of the lines used by potters, weavers and architects on different ores. Al Shaarani ventured and shaped letters that he modeled out of diverse layouts. Layouts he thought contained essence that he could suggest as an additionmto the aesthetic of these lines, despite being distinct.
Furthermore, Al Shaarani, as a graphic designer, had to treat each letter as a term that leads to a word or text that he shall include in his designs as a geometrical mass in a dynamical reaction with other masses in the visual field of the design. Within these two courses, working to embellish the Arabic letters and working on widening the prospects of its use in new functions, the limit of the creative activity of Mouneer Al Shaarani is defined. Al Shaarani without a doubt will shake the stability of the Arabic tradition, in thought and practice, a tradition that has been as such for dozens of years.
-Emile Mennem
