Islamic calligraphy, used to record the word of God, is acknowledged its value as traditional arts with its meticulous details, architecture, and crafts. Since Idolatry is forbidden in Islam, independent paintings or sculpture are implicitly prohibite...
Islamic calligraphy, used to record the word of God, is acknowledged its value as traditional arts with its meticulous details, architecture, and crafts. Since Idolatry is forbidden in Islam, independent paintings or sculpture are implicitly prohibited. Under the circumstances, Islamic calligraphy was able to settle into a distinctive genre in art. While the form in Islamic calligraphy has a significance in delivering the meaning of characters, it has also contributed to the development as fine art by many visual artists. In terms of applying the form of Islamic calligraphy, this paper mainly focus on the works of two artists: Ahmed Moustafa and Parviz Tanavoli. While Ahmed Moustafa, studied on the principles of Islamic caligraphy, applies caligraphy into his paintings, Parviz Tanavoli approaches from the fusion between tradition and art and turns caligraphy into the sculpture. They not only include the words of Islamic doctrines, but also extend the formativeness of caligraphy. In this process, instead of the verbal elements they focus on the visual elements and symbolize caligraphy into Islamic culture. Even though there is an increase in the number of contemporary Islamic artists utilizing caligraphy, it has not been throughly researched on contemporary Islamic caligraphy due to the geographic and cultural unfamiliarity in Korea. By looking at applying the form of Islamic caligraphy by two artists, the paper seeks to deepen the understanding of utilizing the traditions of Islamic art in the boundaries in contemporary art.