Visual art composed of Arab script has become one of the most prominent modes of urban decorating in Saudi Arabia.
In Jeddah, volunteers decorated the city’s bridges with “Calligraphitti”, which blends calligraphy with graffiti.
The art-works have allowed for a creative rediscovery of the science of script as an art constructed through engineering systems. They have thereby given Arabic script added significance, serving as a means for their continued presence and perpetuating their prestige and aesthetic relevance.
The Jeddah Municipality contributed to the initiative, forming a team of volunteers dubbed “Joy of Youth” to conclude 2020, the year of Arabic calligraphy, with a project to decorate the city’s bridges with Arab script and highlight calligraphic talents. The initiative is an extension of the project to develop the city’s urban landscape that had begun in 2017.
Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, Dr. Ahmed Jamil, the initiative’s general supervisor, said over 150 volunteers took part, collaborating with three well-established artists. Together, they worked for 70 hours, using more than 350 liters of paints to paint five words in various colors: faith, giving, cooperation, charity, sincerity.
Artist Ahmed al-Sulaymani said: “The art of calligraphy is used to convey the beauty of Arabic script through art. It can be painted in a variety of fonts, like the Diwani, Thuluth, Kufi fonts and many others.”
“On the other hand, lettering is the art of demonstrating the beauty of Arabic script with freedom away from the rules of calligraphy. Those who practice this art compete in international art exhibitions.”
Qusay al-Ahmady, one of the artists to take part in the initiative, said lettering is used everywhere and all the time, adding that the goal behind it is to spread the culture of Arabic script in an innovative and novel manner and to use it to add beauty to spaces.
