Calligraphy Qalam Blog » Arab world http://calligraphyqalam.com/blog Arabic, Ottoman & Persian Calligraphy Thu, 08 Mar 2012 17:52:32 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 Arabesque at the Kennedy Center http://calligraphyqalam.com/blog/language-and-culture/arabesque-at-the-kennedy-center/ http://calligraphyqalam.com/blog/language-and-culture/arabesque-at-the-kennedy-center/#comments Tue, 10 Mar 2009 19:58:56 +0000 Elisabeth Kvernen http://calligraphyqalam.com/blog/?p=101 Arabesque at the Kennedy Center

The Kennedy Center is currently hosting a three-week festival called Arabesque: Arts of the Arab World (February 23-March 15, 2009). The festival includes music, dance and theatre events, as well as exhibits by contemporary artists.

I visited the festival last Saturday, and was excited to see the work of two calligraphers displayed. Hassan Massoudy is an Iraqi artist who lives in France. He uses a large brush and vibrant colors to create his calligraphic art. His work was exhibited at the Kennedy Center in a 3-sided multimedia display, featuring examples of his art and video footage of him creating calligraphy.

Hassan Massoudy Calligraphy

Hassan Massoudy Calligraphy

Farah Behbehani is a graphic designer and calligrapher from Kuwait. For her masters’ thesis, she created a series of calligraphic illustrations based on a classic Sufi poem, The Conference of the Birds. Each illustration was accompanied by a decoding system which she describes as, “designed to make Arabic calligraphy more accessible for non-Arabic readers.” The spread below is from her book, which can be ordered from Amazon.com.

Farah Behdehani

Farah Behbehani Calligraphy


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