Culture & Heritage Report

7/30/2019 Culture & Heritage Report

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Culture & Heritage Informatics

Lecturer: Chris Hutchinson

Student: Yusaf Afraoui

K1032221

Module CI3130

Topic: Arabian Calligraphy in Morocco


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ContentsExecutive Summary ................................................................................................................................. 3

Description of the client organization and its activity: ....................................................................... 3

Brief Synopsis ...................................................................................................................................... 3

The main areas I will be exploring: ..................................................................................................... 4

The Theoretical or Intellectual issues ..................................................................................................... 4

Analysis: .............................................................................................................................................. 5

Technical walkthrough: ....................................................................................................................... 5

Theoretical / intellectual issues: ....................................................................................................... 10

Project review ................................................................................................................................... 10

Resources: ............................................................................................................................................. 11

Bibliography .......................................................................................................................................... 11

Appendix ............................................................................................................................................... 11


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Executive Summary

Description of the client organization and its activity:

The project I am working on is based on the Arabian calligraphy; I will act as the sole client and the

project will be aimed at people who have an interest in art and specifically the Arabian calligraphy. It

may be referred to as Islamic art which is not at all restricted to only religious art but has the art of

Islamic societies, Islamic art developed from many sources Roman, Byzantine and Early Christian art

and even Chinese influences had an effect on Islamic paintings, pottery and textiles. Islamic art has

focused on the depiction of patterns and Arabic calligraphy.

Arabian calligraphy art that I am looking into are not only the common types such as paintings,

Islamic carpets were introduced during the 16thcentury and are extremely rare. Tilings and even

glass have some Islamic or Arabian calligraphy design to them. The art design will be taken from

mosques, carpets, tiles known as (zillij in morocco) in mosques and some Arabian architecture of

buildings from Morocco with the Arabic calligraphy.

This project is going to be undertaken by me due to the cultural relevance it has to the module and

also as it is something I have found to be very interesting with a strong background to discover.

Arabian calligraphy art is very similar to Islamic art and this project will also provide information to

the users who have limited knowledge of Arabian calligraphy in Morocco.

Research will also be undertaken about the art and where it can be found why it is used and some

history about it, the art work will be taken from around the UK and Morocco and some from

Museums.

Brief Synopsis

Islamic culture was in present day Syria, during the period of the initial Muslim conquest of

Arabia. There were influences from the artistic tradition which had images of warriors forexample sallahudin al ayoubi or the kings who went to war and came back victorious. The

dome of the Rock in Jerusalem is an extremely important building in all of the Islamic

architecture, It holds a strong Byzantine influence which holds Islamic elements, when

compared to Christian art, Islamic art is not restricted to only religious art it has the traditions

of Muslim and Arabian culture.

Islamic art portrays the cultural values mixed with the spiritual values, for the everyday

Muslim reality begins with and centers on Allah. However Islamic art when looked upon in


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terms of religion does not portray imagery of Allah or the messenger ( sallah allahi wa salam)

it does in some cases portray Arabic writing or even verses from the Holy Quran, this is the

case in Mosques. Islamic art has its prime focus on the spiritual representation of objects.

Geometry is used a lot in this type of art, the use of patterns is in general the way that Islamic

art represents nature using their spiritual qualities not physical or material qualities that make

a connection with religion or relates back to religion.

The main objective is to create a better understanding for the users about Arabian calligraphy,

and its origins Arabian calligraphy was destined to become a major art, indeed the principle

art for centuries (Papadopoulo, 1979).

Islamic Art us a world of irresistible fascination in which we strive for a betterunderstanding of the objects and of the people who made them (Burckhardt, 1976). I will

show the different design there are of the art work and which I will bring from Morocco.

The main areas I will be exploring:

What is Arabian Calligraphy Art What influences it has and where they all come from How it plays and important role in both religious and artistic aspects The Islamic and Arabian calligraphy art in Morocco

The Theoretical or Intellectual issues

The online gallery will have selected images of Arabic calligraphy from Morocco and some

from other Arabian countries where in which the viewer will be able to see the difference in

art work between the two. I will be taking my own pictures myself of Arabian and Islamic art

from Morocco and from home so I will not need copyright clearance and I will also interview

some peoples views on Arabic calligraphy art work. The interviews will be of Arabian art

experts from Morocco.

The online gallery will have pictures taken by me of Islamic elements and Arabian design

both from Morocco and the UK which will allow me to show the culture and heritage of

Arabian and Islamic art that exists both in the UK and Morocco.


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In my project I will be using Omeka, this is a good tool for me to use as it allows me to

display and manage the collections of the art that I will display which I will have taken from

Morocco, These findings will be published online in the gallery and on my video archive

which will be created using Omeka. The research will be done using books about Arabian

calligraphy art work; any content that I intend to use will be referenced accordingly.

Analysis:

In this project about Arabian Calligraphy there are a few challenges that are apparent to me

which I will need to solve. One of which is the fact that I need to get the Arabian calligraphy

design or artwork from Morocco itself preferably from buildings and Islamic architecture

such as Mosques. The other issue is I will need to make sure the information I gather about

Arabian Calligraphy is correct and not misleading to the reader. This project gives an insight

to the different design and areas where Arabian calligraphy is used and what type of role it

has on the country of Morocco.

The other challenge is the audio recordings; I was initially going to have video interviews

however due to restrictions some interviewees did not want to show themselves on camera.

This was a problem for me, and in order for me to solve this I had to make voice recordings

of the interviews and upload them.

Technical walkthrough:

What is Arabic calligraphy page:

WHAT IS ARABIC

CALLIGRAPHY

HISTORY OF ARABIAN

CALLIGRAPHY

ABOUT ARABIC

CALLIGRAPHY

AUDIO

RECORDINGS

WHAT IS ARABIC CALLIGRAPHY?

[Description of Arabian calligraphy]


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Here we have the page where in which there is a description of what Arabian calligraphy

is all about. This is relevant information for the user to get an understanding of the topic

at hand.

History of Arabian Calligraphy

In this prototype the History of Arabian Calligraphy is explored in detail, this area will have

information on where and when it started.

About Arabic Calligraphy page

This About Page will have information on what this omeka site is all about, so that the

user can understand what they can do on this website.

HISTORY OF ARABIAN

CALLIGRAPHY

ABOUT ARABIC

CALLIGRAPHYAUDIO RECORDINGSWHAT IS ARABIC

CALLIGRAPHY

History of Arabian Calligraphy

[History of Arabian calligraphy]

WHAT IS ARABIC

CALLIGRAPHY

HISTORY OF ARABIAN

CALLIGRAPHY

ABOUT ARABIC

CALLIGRAPHY

AUDIO

RECORDINGS

About

[What this website is about]

Recently added

items

Recently added

items


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Audio Recordings page

Homepage

Here we have the homepage of the website on omeka, the first page goes straight to the

history of Arabian calligraphy so that the user can have an understanding of the art form

and where it came from before they begin to explore the rest of the site.

WHAT IS ARABIC

CALLIGRAPHY

HISTORY OF ARABIAN

CALLIGRAPHY

ABOUT ARABIC

CALLIGRAPHY

AUDIO

RECORDINGS

AUDIO RECORDINGS

[Audio recordings ofinterviewees]


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Importance to Islam page

On this page it gives an insight into how the art form plays a part in Islam, the relevance

and importance of it in a religious perspective.

Influences of Arabian calligraphy

This page explains the main

influences it has on the Arabian

Peninsula


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The about page

This page has the about section

where it explains what this

website is all about and what I

intend to show on this page.

The items page

Here are the

different designs and

areas where the

images were taken

from and it shows

calligraphy from

Morocco and the

UK.

Some are taken from mosques and others from other areas such as buildings or doors and

ornaments.


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Theoretical / intellectual issues:

The internet is the main tool to use for this project and it is where the information as well as

research is taken from. The website I created on Omeka can be accessed from anywhere,

Omeka can be used to display items and then change the overall theme and design, this waschosen by me as the main tool to use because it offered me the services that I needed.

In order for this project to be success I had to make sure that I did not breach any laws

especially the copyright law. The reason being is because this work is an exhibition of

Arabian calligraphy art work. A display of the design through images and photographs, these

images were taken all by me with my camera from both Morocco and England.

Background of Arabian Calligraphy

Arabian calligraphy is an art form which transmits the Arabic scripts of the Quran; the Quran

played a big part in the evolution of the Arabic language. Mosque calligraphy can be foundinside and outside of a mosque specific surahs (chapters) from the Quran are inscribed in

accordance to the function of architectural elements. The art had been used by all Muslims in

their languages it was used to represent God through the words as they did not create images

of god or even the prophet. It is now known as the most venerated form of Islamic art.

Arabian calligraphy is explored in this website and information is provided as well, along

with images of different areas where calligraphic Arabic texts are written or displayed.

Specific verses from the holy Quran are shown on these designs and are uploaded on this

website.

Within the Moroccan culture calligraphy is known to be one of the most loved forms of art,

there is an admiration for Arabic calligraphy. The artistic weaves of Arabic texts are a

decorative form of writing.

Reviews of Literature read

There are textbooks which I looked into in order to generate a better understanding for myself

about Arabic calligraphy. Arabic Script and the Art of Calligraphy is a textbook which I have

reviewed, it provides an insight into the origins of this art form and even provides different

images of the art form being practiced. The origins of the Arabic alphabet can be traced to

the writing of the semi- nomadic Nabataean tribes, who inhabited southern Syria and Jordan,Northern Arabia (Fitzgerald, 2012).

I have used the informative information from this book as research into the topic; I was then

able to provide the relevant information in the right pages on the website.

Project review


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I have created an online exhibition of Arabian calligraphy using photographic images taken

from Morocco and England. The images were mainly from the city of Tangier, mosques were

the main areas where I was able to get the most artistic images which are down to its religious

relevance stemming from verses of the Quran.

I have produced information on a great topic that not many people know about. It wasdifficult to find Arabian calligraphy on buildings in the city of Tangier however I managed to

find a few shops with calligraphy on the buildings themselves.

There is still room for improvement; in the future I am looking into the possibilities of getting

imagery from the whole of Morocco not only from Tangier as it is quite limited. I would also

try to get video coverage of interviews with people who know about Arabian Calligraphy

instead of audio recordings as it adds to the user experience, the people I interviewed

Resources:

BibliographyBurckhardt, T. (1976).Arts of Islam. T. Burckhardt.

Fitzgerald, E. (2012). Met Museum. Retrieved 3 22, 2013, from www.metmuseum.org:

http://www.metmuseum.org/learn/for-educators/publications-for-

educators/~/media/Files/Learn/For%20Educators/Publications%20for%20Educators/Islamic

%20Teacher%20Resource/Unit2.pdf

Papadopoulo, A. (1979). Islam and Muslim Art. A. Papadopoulo.

AppendixInterview questions of Audio recording

Questions 1 what is Arabic calligraphy?

Ahmed Salam: Arabic calligraphy is a form of Islamic view expressions creativity through the Islamic

world Arabic calligraphy is a symbol of unity and beauty and power. The principles of Arabic

calligraphy reflects the value of the Muslim world

Question 2 is it just an art form?

Ahmed Salam: It defines moral representations as a whole the Arabs liked to show the weaves and

demonstrate their love for particular verses from the Quran in a graphical way as they could not

draw god himself.


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