Introduction by Hicham Chajai

Calligraphy is the Art of writing beautiful letters. This Art was widely developed in the Arab Muslim world, mainly due to the prohibition of representing life. Many kinds of scripts were created in the Arabic Calligraphy, each one with its own strict rules and use (illustration, architectural decoration, edition, etc.). Pieces presented in this website are using Deewani and Kufi scripts. The DIWANI script, widely used in the Ottoman chancellery, gets its character from the curves. It perfectly combines freedom and rigor. Any image can be suggested by using only arab letters from a name, a word, a proverb or even a poem. You will find numerous characters, animals, etc. Look carefully, they are only made of letters, nicely suggesting the shapes. The KUFI is a geometric script. You will find it in the most famous palaces (The Alhambra for example) and mosques as an architectural element of decoration. Finding symmetries, horizontal lines, vertical lines, design is the great interest of using this script. In the LATIN gallery of this website, you will discover a unique way of using this script. Indeed, letters are Arabic but words are French…