Hurufiyya movement - Knowledge (XXG)

544: 149: 528: 214:"They deconstruct writing, exploit the letter and turn it into an indexical sign of calligraphy, tradition and cultural heritage. As the sign is purely aesthetic, and only linguistic in its cultural association, it opens hitherto untravelled avenues for interpretation, and attracts different audiences, yet still maintains a link to the respective artist's own culture... Hurufiyya artists do away with the signifying function of language. The characters become pure signs, and temporarily emptied of their referential meaning, they become available for new meanings." 463: 512: 490: 391: 168:, and assumed a distinctive character in which both African motifs and calligraphy were combined, while media such as leather and wood replaced canvas to provide a distinct African style. In Morocco, the movement was accompanied by the replacement of traditional media for oils; artists favoured traditional dyes such as henna, and embraced weaving, jewellery and tattoo as well as including traditional Amazigh motifs. In Jordan, it was generally known as the 264:: The pioneers, who were inspired by the independence of their nations, searched for a new aesthetic language that would allow them to express their nationalism. These artists rejected European techniques and media, turning to indigenous media and introducing Arabic calligraphy into their art. For this group of artists, Arabic letters are a central feature of the artwork. First generation artists include: the Jordanian artist, 348: 207:

amongst hurufiyya artists is that they all tapped into the beauty and mysticism of Arabic calligraphy, but used it in a modern, abstract sense. Although hurufiyya artists struggled to find their own individual dialogue with nationalism, they also worked towards a broader aesthetic that transcended national boundaries and represented an affiliation with an Arab identity in the post-colonial period.

543: 61:. By combining tradition and modernity, these artists worked towards developing a culture-specific visual language, which instilled a sense of national identity in their respective nation-states when many of these states were shaking off colonial rule and asserting their independence. They adopted the same name as the 183:, who was active in the US and Baghdad from the mid-1940s, was the pioneer of the movement, since she was the first to explore the use of Arabic script in a contemporary art context in the 1940s and exhibited hurufiyya-inspired works in Washington in 1949. However, other scholars have suggested that she was a 328:

Hurufiyya art involved a very diverse range of "explorations into the abstract, graphic, and aesthetic properties of Arabic letters." Art historians, including Wijdan Ali and Shirbil Daghir, have attempted to develop a way of classifying different types of hurufiyya art. Ali identifies the following,

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The use of traditional Arabic elements, notably calligraphy, in modern art arose independently in various Islamic states; few of these artists working in this area had knowledge of each other, allowing for different manifestations of hurufiyya to develop in different regions. In Sudan, for instance,

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Hurufiyya artists rejected Western art concepts, and instead grappled with a new artistic identity drawn from within their own culture and heritage. These artists successfully integrated Islamic visual traditions, especially calligraphy, into contemporary, indigenous compositions. The common theme

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Artwork, employing script, but which follows no rules and where artists require no formal training. Calligraffiti artists employ their own ordinary handwriting within a modern composition. Artists may reshape letters, or simply invent new letters that reference traditional Arabic scripts. Artists

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Traditional calligraphic art was bound by strict rules, which, amongst other things, confined it to devotional works and prohibited the representation of humans in manuscripts. Practising calligraphers trained with a master for many years to learn both the technique and the rules governing

622:, who developed the traditions of Arabic calligraphy in a modern, abstract format and is considered a pioneer of the movement in Jordan, has been able to bring hurufiyya to the attention of a broader audience through her writing and her work as a curator and patron of the arts. 191:, who initially explored Coptic manuscripts, a step that led him to experiment with Arabic calligraphy. It is clear that by the early 1950s, a number of artists in different countries were experimenting with works based on calligraphy, including the Iraqi painter and sculptor, 997:

Individual hurufiyya artists began to stage exhibitions from the 1960s. In addition to solo exhibitions, several group exhibitions showcasing the variations in hurufiyya art, both geographically and temporally, have also been mounted by prestigious art museums.

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The Hurufiyya art movement (also known as the Al-hurufiyyah movement or the Letrism movement) refers to the use of calligraphy as a graphic element within an artwork, typically an abstract work. The pan-Arab hurufiyya art movement is distinct from the

527: 462: 308:: Contemporary artists who have absorbed international aesthetics, and who employ Arabic and Persian script occasionally. They deconstruct the letters, and use them in a purely abstract and decorative manner. The work of 431:

Art that deconstructs letters and includes them as a graphic element in an abstract artwork. In this style of art, letters may be legible, illegible or may use pseudo-script. Rafa al-Naisiri (b. 1940) and

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and Lettrism. In this theology, letters were seen as primordial signifiers and manipulators of the cosmos. Thus, the term is charged with Sufi intellectual and esoteric meaning.

234:. Nor, was the movement organised along formal lines across the Arab-speaking nations. In some Arab nations, hurufiyya artists formed formal groups or societies, such as Iraq's 602:, is recognised as a pioneer of the hurufiyya art movement, having exhibited a number of hurufist-inspired works in Georgetown in Washington as early as 1949. and publishing 364:, initiated the use of Persian calligraphy in modern and contemporary sculpting. His famous Heech sculptures have become iconic representations within Islamic art and the 160:

calligraphy. Contemporary hurufiyya artists, however, broke free from these rules, allowing Arabic letters to be deconstructed, altered and included in abstract artworks.

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to Hurufiyya. Yet other scholars have suggested that the hurufiyya art movement probably began in North Africa, in the area around Sudan, with the work of

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Works that blend pure calligraphy with other motifs, such as repeating geometric patterns. Ahmad Moustaffa (b. 1943) is representative of this style

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Art historian, Dagher, has described hurufiyya as the most important movement to emerge in the Arab world in the 20th-century. However, the

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who experimented with the graphic possibilities of using Arabic characters, as early as 1947; Iranian painters, Nasser Assar (b. 1928) (

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while acknowledging its importance in terms of encouraging Arab nationalism, describes hurufiyya as neither "a movement nor a school."

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University of Florida Press, 1997, pp 165-66; Dadi, I., "Ibrahim El Salahi and Calligraphic Modernism in a Comparative Perspective,"

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http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/5/25/253331/Arts--Culture/Visual-Art/Alexandria-exhibition-celebrates-Hurufiyya-art-mov.aspx

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Artworks that use any combination of calligraphy styles, often employing marginal calligraphy or unconscious calligraphy. Artist,

775: 763: 714: 222:, who combined traditional aesthetics, including calligraphy, with skilled craftsmanship, and sculptors, such as the Qatari, 296:: Artists, most of whom live in exile, but reference their traditions, culture and language in their artworks. The artist, 368:. Additionally, Tanavoli incorporates pre-Islamic inscriptions and movable-type letters in his renowned Wall sculptures. 218:

The hurufiyya art movement was not confined to painters, but also included important ceramicists such as the Jordanian,

140:('calligraphic school of art'), has been proposed to describe the experimental use of calligraphy in modern Arabic art. 155:

page from a Sufi manuscript, 13th century. Sufi art served as part of the inspiration for the al-hurufiyya movement.

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Hachette UK, 2015, p. 56; Dadi. I., "Ibrahim El Salahi and Calligraphic Modernism in a Comparative Perspective,"

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in 1971 since its principles were based on the importance of the Arabic letter. The artist and art historian,

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https://web.archive.org/web/20120707071823/http://www.daratalfunun.org/main/activit/curentl/anniv/exhib3.html

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Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art & Architecture, Vols 1-3, Oxford University Press, 2009; Treichl, C.,

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Museum Tusculanum Press, 2007, p. 49; Mavrakis, N., "The Hurufiyah Art Movement in Middle Eastern Art,"

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University of Florida Press, 1997, p. 165; Daghir uses a different classification, not canvassed here.

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Faisal Samra (b. 1955) multi-media visual and performing artist, active in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain

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Artist, Dia-Al-Azzawi, exhibits the style of the Calligraphy Combinations School of Hurufiyya art

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http://www.britishmuseum.org/the_museum/london_exhibition_archive/archive_word_into_art.aspx2006

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Works that adhere to the rules of 13th-century calligraphy. An example of this is the work of

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The art historian, Christiane Treichl, explains how calligraphy is used in contemporary art:

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Routledge, 2015, p. 495; Mavrakis, N., "The Hurufiyah Art Movement in Middle Eastern Art,"

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Dadi. I., "Ibrahim El Salahi and Calligraphic Modernism in a Comparative Perspective,"

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Peripheral Insider: Perspectives on Contemporary Internationalism in Visual Culture,

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has become somewhat controversial and has been rejected by some scholars, such as

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Art of the Middle East: Modern and Contemporary Art of the Arab World and Iran,

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Art of the Middle East: Modern and Contemporary Art of the Arab World and Iran

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Words of Power: Hurufi Teachings Between Shi'ism and Sufism in Medieval Islam,

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Elsirgany, S., "Alexandria exhibition celebrates 'Hurufiyya' art movement,"

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was also a pioneer, active from the 1950s. Both Omar and Hamoudi joined the

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movement, while in Iran, a similar approach was formed which was called the

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