Calligrapher Adham Al-Jaafari: The Arabic letter has great potential to be contemporary art

Damascus-Sana

Calligrapher Adham al-Jaafari began his journey with Arabic calligraphy from early childhood through learning from his uncle, the late calligrapher Muhammad Salem Noelati.

And about his relationship with the Arabic script, the calligrapher Jaafari said in an interview with Sana, “Since my childhood, I was fascinated by the beauty of the Arabic letter and I found great pleasure in myself when I contemplated it.

Al-Jaafari explained that a number of distinguished professors were studying Arabic calligraphy at the institute, including Ahmed Al-Mufti, Shukri Kharsho and others, which had a significant impact on raising the level of students.

Al-Jaafari, who studied the arts of Arabic calligraphy at the hands of the calligrapher Hassan Chalabi, pointed out that writing moved to Damascus in the Umayyad era, and in which the Arabic script flourished and its various types, then moved to Baghdad, Egypt and the rest of the Arab and Islamic regions and countries up to the present day in which the letter arrived Al-Arabi to abstract art, to benefit from international schools of plastic art.

According to al-Jaafari, the calligrapher must start studying all types of calligraphy, then specialize in a specific type, train on it at length, and dive into its details so that he can perform as required and present works of a high technical level.

On the extent of the use of social media to spread the arts of Arabic calligraphy today, Al-Jaafari said, “These means help in speeding up the public’s access to artworks, communicating with artists and seeing the most important international references in this context and the latest developments in the world of art, but at the same time it is a way to float and spread. Shoddy works of art without controls distort young talents looking for further science and technology.

On the reality of the art of Arabic calligraphy in Syria today, Al-Jaafari said, “There are currently official, civil and individual efforts, but they are insufficient and not commensurate with the importance of this ancient art and its richness requires a cultural project undertaken by the official cultural institution in cooperation with the private and private side with individual efforts to advance the reality of Arabic calligraphy and raise its taste. Community aesthetic towards him and discover promising talents and support them ”.

Al-Jaafari pointed out that Syria has an important list of distinguished calligraphers in the world, whether the pioneers or those who came after them, up to the present day, calling for shed light on the experiences of these great masters to further introduce their craft products and to establish a contemporary museum with a high level specialized in the arts of Arabic calligraphy.

Al-Jaafari expresses his optimism about the future of Arabic calligraphy arts in Syria, because there is a new generation talented in these arts and needs only care to follow the path of creativity in this field, especially since the Arabic letter possesses great artistic energies that enable it to emulate contemporary arts.

Mohammed Samir Tahan