A universe of refinement descended on Cape Town’s Gold of Africa museum, where a selection of delicately crafted Arabic calligraphy was unveiled this month.
The exhibition’s visual strength was the diversity of the 46 artworks by calligraphers from Mali, Morocco, Spain and Turkey. A three-day calligraphy workshop was given and a one-day seminar elaborated on topics such as the development of Arabic script and contemporary calligraphy in Northern Nigeria.
Shamil Jeppie, an academic at the University of Cape Town’s historical studies department, was central to staging the exhibition. He has been reviving research and exposing ancient scrolls from Timbuktu, Mali. This is the start of a bold ambition, as Jeppie envisions an “international Arabic calligraphy exhibition drawing works from as far as China, Japan and also Western calligraphers”.
The show is titled From Istanbul to Timbuktu — Ink Routes and has been a joint endeavour curated by Nuria Garcia Masip from Spain and Deniz Oktem Bektas from Turkey. Garcia Masip studied calligraphy in the United States, Morocco and Turkey. The geography of her studies is pivotal as it has broadened her insight into the ancient art form while allowing her access to diverse calligraphists.
Garcia Masip is based in Germany, has curated a similar exhibition in Spain and plans to show her work in Dubai later this year. The market for Arabic calligraphy is growing, she says, as “people value something which belongs to the past”.
“We’re living in times when every-thing is truly cosmopolitan. People have a thirst for the sacred and something that’s meaningful, that has a long tradition behind it. Arabic calligraphy has hundreds of years of legacy. This work is not mass-produced — each piece can take months to finish. People value something that is crafted, retaining the blessings of the ancient,” says Garcia Masip.
“The art world has a space for this kind of work. Even if you can’t read Arabic, the beauty of the piece speaks on its own. The pieces are almost magnetic. In the Gulf there is a huge interest in Islamic art. There are many galleries and there is money. Prices double or triple.”
For Ink Routes Garcia Masip selected traditional Eastern scripts and works created in the Turkish Ottoman form. Pieces are written in different languages, but retain the Arabic script and traditional calligraphy styles.
Arabic lettering is used to communicate Farsi, Ottoman Turkish, Urdu and even some West African languages in the works. Calligraphy from Mali, though, was the prized treasure, as it largely remains unexplored.
“There is a great need for African calligraphy to be exposed. The Eastern scripts have been developed with the support of the sultans and Muslim courts. It was really an art for the elite. In West Africa it’s done for everyone. If calligraphers like a book they will hand-write it and keep it or give it to someone. The monetary value is low but the aesthetic is rich,” says Garcia Masip.
“The African pieces have less value because nobody knows about them. Africa is ignored. You see calligraphy from Mali being sold on the street for a few pennies. But if you put it in a glass case in a museum the value increases. It needs a platform.”
Calligrapher Cheickh Hamou, from Timbuktu, was involved in the exhibition’s workshop component. As much as Mali’s calligraphers enrich the art form with their colourful contributions, they need to exhibit a lot more to become accepted as part of the establishment. Hamou says Ink Routes is only the second exhibition of Malian calligraphers’ works, which present a “much more free” style, ensuring their uniqueness among the others.
“In this style you don’t have a set of rules or pressure, as with the Eastern scripts, which are extremely regimented,” says Hamou. “It’s an organic process and the designs are embedded in our culture. We have a nomadic culture of design. We use colour for bold effect.”
The challenge in Mali, though, is to reclaim calligraphy as an art form and have it revered as before.
“In olden times there were hundreds of calligraphers in Timbuktu. They were able to earn a good living. With the printed works, they are less. But even the poorest person will value hand-made books more than printed books. Very little has been done to exhibit calligraphy in Mali,” says Hamou.
“In Mali there is curiosity about the past. If there were more exhibitions, calligraphers would get back the respect that has been lost. People have forgotten the value of this calligraphy.”
Ink Routes runs at the Gold of Africa Museum in Strand Street, Cape Town, until the end of September. Tel: 021 405 1540. It opens at the Anglogold Ashanti exhibition room in Newtown, Johannesburg, in October