Istanbul Alive Magazine April 2014 ISTANBUL ALIVE APRIL 2014 | Page 14

ISTANBUL DESIGN TASARIM İSTANBUL

AESTHETIC ARISING
FROM THE BAMBOO PENCIL

CALLIGRAPHY
Ottoman - Turkish Calligraphy, also known as Arabic
calligraphy, is the art of writing, and by extension, of
bookmaking. This art has most often employed the
Arabic script, throughout many languages.
Calligraphy is especially revered among Islamic arts
since it was the primary means for the preservation
of the Qur’an.

O

ttoman Turkish calligraphy is associated with geometric
Islamic art on the walls and ceilings of mosques as well
as on the page. Contemporary artists in the Islamic world
draw on the heritage of calligraphy to use calligraphic
inscriptions or abstractions in their work. The first of those
to gain popularity was known as the Kufic script, which
was angular, made of square and short horizontal strokes,
long verticals, and bold, compact circles. The Diwani script
is a cursive style of Arabic calligraphy developed during the
reign of the early Ottomans (16th and early 17th centuries).
It was invented by Housam Roumi and reached its height of
popularity under Süleyman I the Magnificent. As decorative
as it was communicative, Diwani was distinguished by the
complexity of the line within the letter and the close
juxtaposition of the letters within the word. In the teachings
ofcalligraphy figurative imagery is used to help visualize the
shape of letters to trace.The traditional instrument of the
Turkish - Ottoman calligrapher is the kalem, a pen made of
dried reed or bamboo; the ink is often in color, and chosen
12 • I S T A N B U L A L I V E

such that its intensity can
vary greatly, so that the
greater strokes of the
compositions can be very
dynamic in their effect.
Tools and mater ials used
by calligraphers. The reed
used both as a musical
instrument (the ney) and

as a pen is possibly the
only tool evocative of the
mystic atmosphere of the
Islamic and oriental world.
Reeds gathered from the
marshy banks of lakes and
rivers are far from being
usable as pens in their raw
state. These yellowish