I recently found out about a fascinating project by the artist Sandow Birk, who is working to create an “American” Qur’an. The lettering and illustration for this manuscript are informed by a uniquely American aesthetic, which contrasts sharply with more traditional manuscripts found in the Middle East. Below is a description of the project:

[This is] an ongoing project to hand-transcribe the entire Qur’an according to historic Islamic traditions and to illuminate the text with relevant scenes from contemporary American life. Five years in the making, the project has been inspired by a decade of extended travel in Islamic regions of the world and undertaken after extensive research.

To find out more, visit: http://www.sandowbirk.com/paintings/recent-works/.

Mural in downtown Montreal, originally uploaded by mithraphoto.

This Flickr photo shows a mural in Montreal with an inscription in the lower right-hand corner: “Arab artistic calligraphy inspired by the work of Hassan Massoudy.”