Exploring the meticulous art of Kufi Murabba

Within the Islamic culture the art of Khatt (calligraphy) is understood as the art of the pen and an expression of the sacred.

It’s a practice that has been studied for ages. Since the development of the Arabic language, the progression of calligraphy became one of the major forms of artistic expression. It takes time and dedication to perfect the right script using tools only a serious artist would understand. It’s a form of expression, which is intertwined with oneself thus leading to great results. It’s not difficult to find artists practicing different types of Arabic calligraphy and excelling in them. It’s widely known that the art of Khatt was practiced since the early years after the birth of Islam as calligraphy was used to write the words of the Holy Qur’an.

Scripts were created to serve different purposes such as to write the words of the Qur’an, poetry, official paper work and royal decrees. It’s progressed throughout the years by even combining various aspects in architecture, different floras and using natural sources such as wood, feather and even rock at times. Some stood the sands of time as others died out. One of the more difficult types is Kufi. Yet one young Saudi has proved that it isn’t as difficult as it was once assumed. Youssef Yahya, a senior in the university studying architecture defied the difficulties and incorporated his field of education with his love for calligraphy.

His love for calligraphy started at a young age as he used to mimic his older brother, who was very skilled in calligraphy, but found it difficult to do so because he lacked the tools and support needed to develop the skill. Years later, after enrolling into the Department of Architecture at the Faculty of Environmental Design, this young man found the missing link between architectural geometric designs and Kufi calligraphy as they both refer back to grid modules and reference lines.

Original article by Rawan Radwan

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Exploring the meticulous art of Kufi Murabba