Modern City, Ancient Art

Discovering Dubai through its Arabic Calligraphy

By Gillian Gilbride

If a white board is the perfect canvas for a painting, then the desert may just be the perfect canvas for building a city.

Dubai, with it’s tallest tower, indoor ski-field and Palm island has certainly met that creative challenge.

Although outwardly modern in appearance, Dubai has strong traditional roots and a revered traditional art form – Arabic calligraphy. What place does this ancient craft have in Dubai’s modern city today?

Gillian Gilbride trails the calligrapher’s pen around Dubai to find out. 

Mohammed sits cross-legged. Poised in one hand is his reed pen dripping black ink. Pressed under his other hand is a camel-skin leather parchment. He wipes his brow, cautious that the sweat on his forehead does not stain the page before his pen does. His hand is steady though, sturdy with the knowledge of his masters. Years of practice culminates as the black ink pools at the tip of his pen. The proportion and line of the stroke must be exact, or else the parchment is ruined.

Who is this Mohammed? Is he real? And does he exist in Dubai?

Dubai is a city renowned for its skyscrapers and seven-star opulence. I’m curious to find out if, with all the glitz and glamour, there are still Emiratis delicately penning calligraphic scrolls in Dubai’s desert dunes.   

I begin my journey during the holy month of Ramadan, on a Friday, when a 40 degree heat is already fierce in the lunchtime sky. Google promises me traditional handicrafts, camels, Bedouin tents and art at Dubai’s Heritage Village. I head off to the Shindaga area and visit the open-air expanse where traditional Barasti style souqs (small shops) line a central courtyard arena of sand, hot sand.

I scour the arena simultaneously for signs of Islamic art and an air-conditioned powered Barasti hut. As I pass empty Bedouin tents, it dawns on me that Ramadan, the holy month of prayers and fasting - when much of the city is at rest during the day - is probably not the best month for my foray into Arabic calligraphy. 

Any culturally-inclined tourist, in addition to the Heritage Village, will undoubtedly seek out the Dubai Museum. The Dubai Museum sits along the Dubai Creek, the stretch of water separating ‘old’ and ‘new’ Dubai.  Much of the new development of Dubai has taken place on the Bur Dubai side of the creek, while Diera, the old trading hub, is still dense with older buildings and merchant souqs.

(The abra station on the Dubai Creek)

These creek waterways were an important thoroughfare for the trading dhows from India and, for a dirham, locals and tourists can ride the abra (a traditional wooden boat) across. Also bobbing by the creek side are the rickety dhows (the larger traditional wooden boats) flaunting garlands of drying clothes, and still trading today in the shadows of the city skyline. 

                                                                       (Traditional dhows on the creekside)

The old Al Fahidi Fort which houses the museum is small, but offers a good overview of traditional Bedouin life, the significance of camels, dates and pearls. Unfortunately though, there is little about calligraphy.

I’m beginning to wonder whether Mohammed and his scrolls are a mere mirage.

However, adjacent to the Museum, is an area known as the Bastikya and it is here I see some calligraphy script. In the alcoves and bedrooms of the traditional houses now sit curious courtyard cafes and quaint galleries. Early Persian influences helped shape Emirati architecture, and the Bastikya residential area, which inherits its name from the Bastak region in Iran, is an example of this. This area is an important historical quarter and during cooler months its tranquil tenor livens to a vibrant pitch with the hum of stalls, live music and outdoor painting sessions.

Meandering through the maze-like buildings, under wind towers and stooping through small doorways I pass the XVA and Majlis galleries which showcase both Arabic and Western pieces.

Arabic calligraphy spans from Turkey, to Muslim India, China and the Middle East, and its beginnings can be traced back as far as 4BC.  Kufic is the style that became widely popular and influenced arabesque design - decorating even the Alhambra Palace in Spain. Kufic script penned the first copies of the Quran and as many as 25 versions of the style are still used today.

The journey from the Bastikiya to the industrial area of Al Quoz is sprinkled with mosques. The nearly 200 minarets of the city stand tall and proud - sounding the call to prayer five times a day. Mosques are the obvious canvases of the Islamic calligraphic verse and examples can be seen at the Jumeriah Mosque - which is open to the non-Muslim public for guided tours.  

Part of the appeal of traditional Arabic calligraphy lies in its abstract aesthetics. The balance of composition and harmony of line can create an energy of triumph or tranquility.  

(Bastikiya Café & Restaurant)
 Surrounded by dusty warehouses and acting as an apparent meeting ground for buses and trucks, Al Quoz is an unlikely spot for the city’s art. But many of Dubai’s established and up-and-coming galleries are located here.

At the Third Line Gallery in Al Quoz, Golnaz Fathi unveils large canvases where bold strokes of black sweep across splashes of red, blue and yellow. The calligraphy swirls are defiantly illegible but distinctly Arabic. In this abstract abyss, even non-Arabs, can appreciate the balance, harmony and flow of this art form.

Across town, between the Burj Khalifa - the tallest tower in the world, and the iconic Emirates Towers, stands the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC).  The huge arch-like structure is a hub for Dubai’s financial elite and a hotspot for some of the city’s best art. Galleries here include the Opera Gallery, Artspace and the Farjam Collection at the DIFC.

The Farjam Collection claims to be one of the most impressive privately owned collections of Islamic art in the world today. Here, intricate Islamic miniatures are displayed along with large expressive works of Arabic script on mixed media. I’m thrilled to finally find such an extensive collection. Modern artists from the region like Moshiri and Ehsai feature in the collection, as do international masters like Picasso.

On Sunday and Monday mornings calligraphy enthusiasts can be found creating their own Islamic masterpieces at the Mall of the Emirates, and it is here at last that I find my modern calligrapher. My imaginary calligrapher Mohammed, hunched over ink-stained parchments turns out to be a charismatic young woman.  

(Modern Arabic calligraphy piece by Fatima Nadia Rehman)

Fatima Nadia Rehman is an artist, curator and teacher. Her 10 year study of calligraphy includes an apprenticeship to Ustad Ghauhar Qalam, who has work displayed at the British Museum, and the study of miniatures and Arabic calligraphy at the University of Philadelphia. She now teaches Arabic Calligraphy classes at the Dubai Community Theatre and Arts Centre.  

When Fatima first arrived in Dubai in 2007 there were no classes for Arabic calligraphy and she still sources her reed pens and books overseas. She even makes her own paper.

Traditionally Islamic art, with its aversion to human and animal representation, has been founded in the written word. But what of modern Arabic calligraphy? Are images permitted?

Fatima has used the human face in a calligraphy piece and although the response was good, she is careful not to push the boundaries too far. Her students typically stick to letters, poems, verses from the Quran, and occasionally incorporate some botany.

Fatima tells me that “it’s the thickness and the thinness of the line that give it the look.” Patience is a necessary virtue in this craft but Fatima says she can spot the ones with natural talent.

It seems fitting that just as Dubai is a multi-cultural microcosm of old and new, Fatima is a female calligrapher of Pakistani heritage and American education practicing centuries old methods, using traditional materials and passing down her knowledge to a mixed palette of Emirati, Japanese, and American students.

                                                                                                              

(Traditional Arabic calligraphy piece by Fatima Nadia Rehman)

Discovering Dubai’s Arabic calligraphy scene hasn’t been easy but, as they say, ‘the journey is half the fun’. 

While I don’t find the elusive Mohammed hunched over leather parchments with ink-stained finger tips, I discover something much better. I’ve visited places I wouldn’t have ventured to otherwise, I’ve gained an appreciation of an art form I knew nothing about and I’ve met a modern calligrapher helping the city embrace its ancient art.

Fact File

Where to stay

Try a night at the Orient Guest House in the historic Bastikya area.

It is pricey but worthwhile for those who want a traditional experience.

www.orientguesthouse.com

What to do

The Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding offers guided tours of the Bastikya and mosque, and cultural talks over traditional Emirati food.

http://www.cultures.ae/

What to see

Take a guided bus tour around the city’s galleries. There are two routes – the Al Quoz route and the Bastikya route (Check the website for dates)

www.artinthecity.com