Arabic Calligraphy: Art of a nation and its historical development
The written word may be today’s communication tool, but art and pictures were the first language and, in the words of artist Paul Klee, “writing and painting are similar in essence”.
Beirut: Archaeological discoveries on cave walls is evidence that painting was man’s first written language; his drawings of animals and other shapes reflecting his daily life and challenges before he knew how to write.
Through time and with the support of painting, spoken languages evolved their alphabets to symbolise those sounds and man shifted from pictures to words. While Arabic did not develop from this historical process, its alphabets added a new dimension to writing via calligraphy. Through Arabic, calligraphy alphabets simultaneously became writing and painting tools.
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Ahmad Dirki