The first Islamic World Thuluth Calligraphy Festival was inaugurated at Imam Ali (AS) Religious Arts Museum in Tehran on Wednesday (Jan 28).
A script variety of Islamic calligraphy, Thuluth was invented by the Persian Ibn Muqlah Shirazi, which made its first appearance in the 11th century.
Works by 50 artists and calligraphers, on the subject of the Holy Qur’an and Hadith from Iran, Syria, Turkey, and Iraq, were displayed at the exhibition which opened simultaneously with the festival. A great number of calligraphy masters and students as well as at fans are taking part, Honaronline reported.
Festival secretary Iraj Naeemaei said at the opening that calligraphy “is undoubtedly the first evidence of Islamic art as the divine revelations were recorded through scripts.”
Naeemaei, himself a skillful calligrapher, pointed to Masters Movahed and Samadi as two influential figures who revived this ancient art in Iran “by educating a large number of students in the field.”
He also announced that a similar event will be held on the Naskh script (a variety of Islamic calligraphy) next year and expressed hope for these events to be annually held in the country.
Works of the late artists Habibollah Fazaeli, Ayatollah Najafi Zanjani and Mohammadreza Ghanbari are also on display.
On the sidelines of the exhibition, a workshop on Islamic calligraphy was organized on Thursday and Friday by Iranian and foreign masters. The workshop will also be held in other cities during the week.
