The Rise of Islamic Calligraphy
Author: Alain George
Publisher: Saqi Books
Published: 2010
Total Pages: 248
ISBN-13:
DOWNLOAD EBOOKBeautifully illustrated, this is an essential reference work for students and connoisseurs of calligraphy alike.
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How to Read Islamic Calligraphy
Author: Maryam D. Ekhtiar
Publisher: Metropolitan Museum of Art
Published: 2018-09-03
Total Pages: 159
ISBN-13: 1588396304
DOWNLOAD EBOOK"For centuries, Islamic calligraphy has mesmerized viewers with its beauty, sophistication, and seemingly endless variety of styles. How to Read Islamic Calligraphy offers new perspectives on this distinctive art form, using examples from The Met's superlative collections to explore the enduring preeminence of the written word as a means of creative expression throughout the Islamic world. Combining engaging, accessible texts with stunning new photography, How to Read Islamic Calligraphy introduces readers to the major Islamic script types and explains the various contexts, whether secular or sacred, in which each one came to be used. Beauty and brilliance emerge in equal measure from works of every medium, from lavishly illuminated Qur'an manuscripts, to glassware etched with poetic verses, to ceramic tiles brushed with benedictions. The sheer breadth of objects illustrated in these pages exemplifies the ubiquity of calligraphy, and provides a compelling introduction to this unique art form"--Publisher's description
A Companion to Islamic Art and Architecture
Author: Finbarr Barry Flood
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Published: 2017-06-16
Total Pages: 1442
ISBN-13: 1119068576
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe two-volume Companion to Islamic Art and Architecture bridges the gap between monograph and survey text by providing a new level of access and interpretation to Islamic art. The more than 50 newly commissioned essays revisit canonical topics, and include original approaches and scholarship on neglected aspects of the field. This two-volume Companion showcases more than 50 specially commissioned essays and an introduction that survey Islamic art and architecture in all its traditional grandeur Essays are organized according to a new chronological-geographical paradigm that remaps the unprecedented expansion of the field and reflects the nuances of major artistic and political developments during the 1400-year span The Companion represents recent developments in the field, and encourages future horizons by commissioning innovative essays that provide fresh perspectives on canonical subjects, such as early Islamic art, sacred spaces, palaces, urbanism, ornament, arts of the book, and the portable arts while introducing others that have been previously neglected, including unexplored geographies and periods, transregional connectivities, talismans and magic, consumption and networks of portability, museums and collecting, and contemporary art worlds; the essays entail strong comparative and historiographic dimensions The volumes are accompanied by a map, and each subsection is preceded by a brief outline of the main cultural and historical developments during the period in question The volumes include periods and regions typically excluded from survey books including modern and contemporary art-architecture; China, Indonesia, Sub-Saharan Africa, Sicily, the New World (Americas)
Islamic Calligraphy
Author: Blair Sheila Blair
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
Published: 2020-01-19
Total Pages: 736
ISBN-13: 1474464475
DOWNLOAD EBOOKJoint Winner of the 2007 British-Kuwait Friendship Society Prize for Middle Eastern StudiesThis stunning book is an important contribution to a key area of non-western art, being the first reference work on the art of beautiful writing in Arabic script.The extensive use of writing is a hallmark of Islamic civilization. Calligraphy, the art of beautiful writing, became one of the main methods of artistic expression from the seventh century to the present in almost all regions from the far Maghrib, or Islamic West, to India and beyond. Arabic script was adopted for other languages from Persian and Turkish to Kanembu and Malay. Sheila S. Blair's groundbreaking book explains this art form to modern readers and shows them how to identify, understand and appreciate its varied styles and modes. The book is designed to offer a standardized terminology for identifying and describing various styles of Islamic calligraphy and to help Westerners appreciate why calligraphy has long been so important in Islamic civilization.The argument is enhanced by the inclusion of more than 150 colour illustrations, as well as over a hundred black-and-white details that highlight the salient features of the individual scripts and hands. Examples are chosen from dated or datable examples with secure provenance, for the problem of forgeries and copies (both medieval and modern) is rampant. The illustrations are accompanied by detailed analyses telling the reader what to look for in determining both style and quality of script.This beautiful new book is an ideal reference for anyone with an interest in Islamic art.Key Features* Written by the world's leading expert on Islamic calligraphy* Includes c.150 colour illustrations* Comprehensive: covers the art of calligraphy throughout Islamic civilisation, from the 7thc. to the present* The first volume to explain this art form to modern readers, guiding them in the identification, understanding and appreciation of its varied style
Forces of Fortune
Author: Seyyed Vali Reza Nasr
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Published: 2009-09-15
Total Pages: 322
ISBN-13: 1416589686
DOWNLOAD EBOOKLeading authority on the Islamic world and influential advisor to the Obama administration Vali Nasr shows that the West's best hope of winning the battle against Islamic extremists is to foster the growth of a vibrant new Muslim middle class. This flourishing of Muslim bourgeoisie is reshaping the mind-set, politics, and even the religious values of Muslims in much the same way the Western bourgeoisie lead the capitalist and democratic revolution in Europe. Whereas extremism has grown out of the dismal economic failures of the authoritarian Islamic regimes, Nasr explains, the wealth and aspirations of this Islamic "critical middle" put them squarely at odds with extremism. They have ushered in remarkable transformations already in Dubai, Turkey, and Indonesia, and they are the key to tipping the balance in both Iran and Pakistan. As he writes "the great battle for the soul of the Muslim world will be fought not over religion but over market capitalism."
Letters of Light
Author: J.R. Osborn
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Published: 2017-05-22
Total Pages: 0
ISBN-13: 9780674971127
DOWNLOAD EBOOKArabic script remains one of the most widely employed writing systems in the world, for Arabic and non-Arabic languages alike. Focusing on naskh—the style most commonly used across the Middle East—Letters of Light traces the evolution of Arabic script from its earliest inscriptions to digital fonts, from calligraphy to print and beyond. J. R. Osborn narrates this storied past for historians of the Islamic and Arab worlds, for students of communication and technology, and for contemporary practitioners. The partnership of reed pen and paper during the tenth century inaugurated a golden age of Arabic writing. The shape and proportions of classical calligraphy known as al-khatt al-mansub were formalized, and variations emerged to suit different types of content. The rise of movable type quickly led to European experiments in printing Arabic texts. Ottoman Turkish printers, more sensitive than their European counterparts to the script’s nuances, adopted movable type more cautiously. Debates about “reforming” Arabic script for print technology persisted into the twentieth century. Arabic script continues to evolve in the digital age. Programmers have adapted it to the international Unicode standard, greatly facilitating Arabic presence online and in word processing. Technology companies are investing considerable resources to facilitate support of Arabic in their products. Professional designers around the world are bringing about a renaissance in the Arabic script community as they reinterpret classical aesthetics and push new boundaries in digital form.
Colour, Light and Wonder in Islamic Art
Author: Idries Trevathan
Publisher: Saqi Books
Published: 2020-02-17
Total Pages: 292
ISBN-13: 086356190X
DOWNLOAD EBOOKA unique investigation into the aesthetics of colour in Islamic art revealing its deeper symbolic and mystical meanings. The experience of colour in Islamic visual culture has historically been overlooked. In this new approach, Idries Trevathan examines the language of colour in Islamic art and architecture in dialogue with its aesthetic contexts, offering insights into the pre-modern Muslim experience of interpreting colour. The seventeenth-century Shah Mosque in Isfahan, Iran, represents one of the finest examples of colour-use on a grand scale. Here, Trevathan examines the philosophical and mystical traditions that formed the mosque's backdrop. He shows how careful combinations of colour and design proportions in Islamic patterns expresses knowledge beyond that experienced in the corporeal world, offering another language with which to know and experience God. Colour thus becomes a spiritual language, calling for a re-consideration of how we read Islamic aesthetics.
Islamic Design
Author: Daud Sutton
Publisher: eBook Partnership
Published: 2018-04-01
Total Pages: 64
ISBN-13: 1912706032
DOWNLOAD EBOOKAcross the Islamic world, illuminating Korans from Morocco to Malaysia, and adorning mosques, mausoleums and palaces, are hidden some of the most exquisite geometrical devices ever conceived by man. In this excellent little book, geometer Daud Sutton unravels the mystery of Islamic patterns, explaining where they come from, how to draw them, and hinting at the Divine messages they encode. WOODEN BOOKS are small but packed with information. "e;Fascinating"e; FINANCIAL TIMES. "e;Beautiful"e; LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS. "e;Rich and Artful"e; THE LANCET. "e;Genuinely mind-expanding"e; FORTEAN TIMES. "e;Excellent"e; NEW SCIENTIST. "e;Stunning"e; NEW YORK TIMES. Small books, big ideas.
The Splendor of Islamic Calligraphy
Author: Abdelkebir Khatibi
Publisher:
Published: 2001
Total Pages: 239
ISBN-13: 0500282943
DOWNLOAD EBOOKCalligraphy, the art that combines visual image and written word, is perhaps at its most brilliant in the arts of Islam. Islamic calligraphy traditionally took its inspiration from the Muslim belief in the divine origin of Arabic writing, the medium through which the Qur'anic revelation to the Prophet Muhammad was recorded. In early Islam the use of Arabic writing is sacred, and official texts gave rise to a wonderful profusion of scripts and a calligraphic tradition that has flourished for over a thousand yearsnot only in manuscript decoration but in architecture, ceramics, and painting. With chapters on the use of calligraphy in architecture and contemporary painting, The Splendor of Islamic Calligraphy provides a comprehensive and fascinating survey of the subject from its earliest origins to the present day. It explains the geometrical and ornamental principles of calligraphy with the help of numerous line drawings, and examines the interdependence of script and page decoration. It gives an overview of the many complex variations of this most graphic form of writing and traces its evolution up to its current expression in the paintings of artists such as Shakir Hassan. Finally, and perhaps most important, it contains outstanding examples of scriptskufic, thuluth, naskhi, and maghribi among othersin a series of magnificent reproductions of manuscript pages, paintings, and other works of art. 232 illustrations, 98 in color.
Muthanna/Mirror Writing in Islamic Calligraphy
Author: Esra Akin-Kivanç
Publisher: Indiana University Press
Published: 2020-09-15
Total Pages: 374
ISBN-13: 0253049229
DOWNLOAD EBOOKMuthanna, also known as mirror writing, is a compelling style of Islamic calligraphy composed of a source text and its mirror image placed symmetrically on a horizontal or vertical axis. This style elaborates on various scripts such as Kufic, naskh, and muhaqqaq through compositional arrangements, including doubling, superimposing, and stacking. Muthanna is found in diverse media, ranging from architecture, textiles, and tiles to paper, metalwork, and woodwork. Yet despite its centuries-old history and popularity in countries from Iran to Spain, scholarship on the form has remained limited and flawed. Muthanna / Mirror Writing in Islamic Calligraphy provides a comprehensive study of the text and its forms, beginning with an explanation of the visual principles and techniques used in its creation. Author Esra Akin-Kivanc explores muthanna's relationship to similar forms of writing in Judaic and Christian contexts, as well as the specifically Islamic contexts within which symmetrically mirrored compositions reached full fruition, were assigned new meanings, and transformed into more complex visual forms. Throughout, Akin-Kivanc imaginatively plays on the implicit relationship between subject and object in muthanna by examining the point of view of the artist, the viewer, and the work of art. In doing so, this study elaborates on the vital links between outward form and inner meaning in Islamic calligraphy.
