Exhibitions
Introduction: Traces of the Calligrapher
This exhibition and its companion exhibition, Writing the Word of God: Calligraphy and the Qur’an, explore Islamic art’s quintessential art form: calligraphy. In the Islamic world, the practice of calligraphy constitutes an expression of piety. The writing of Arabic script was considered an exemplary activity for men and women of all stations due to its association with the Qur’an. In a literal sense, calligraphy leaves a trace of the physical movement of the hand. In a more abstract sense, it is also a material record of thoughts,... [more]
Image Gallery
The Calligrapher's Tools and Materials
The Calligrapher's Training and Practice
Contexts for Calligraphy
Writing the Word of God
Essay
Athar: Traces of the Calligrapher and Prophet
by Jacqueline Ganem, Asia Society Museum Fellow
As a conceptual category, the trace has bearings on ideas of an animating presence left behind. It is related to the relic, from the Latin reliquiae, the remains of a martyr or deceased person, and the verb relinquere, to leave behind or relinquish. The trace takes its primary authority from its indexical relation to what it reproduces and continues to make present. In reference to Islamic calligraphy, Mary McWilliams and David J. Roxburgh, guest curators of “Traces of the Calligrapher,” discuss the valuation of writing in Islamic societies... [more]