Event details

Celebrated for centuries as a privileged medium of artistic expression across and beyond the Islamic world, Arabic calligraphy offers art historians a captivating score composed of fluid forms and expressive rhythms. This lecture will explore some of the lesser-known variations of this significant art form. We will focus on instances where the written word loses its linguistic function and takes on meaning through visual form alone and agency of the artist. Particular attention will be given to contexts in which the script adapts to the aesthetic sensibilities of viewers who interpret the sign not through language, but through form, no longer as text, but as image.