Art
has historically often taken cues from religion. Most certainly, religious or
spiritual art is an extremely important genre of art. Within this category of
art, Islamic wall artor
Muslim wall art enjoys anunparalleled
position, as it is a very visible and sophisticated form of art.
The
most prominent aspect of Islamic wall art is Arabic calligraphy. Since Islam
prohibited animal and human imagery, those inclined towards art began looking
art calligraphy as a medium of artistic expression. Before calligraphy began being
used for artistic purposes, it was used to transcribe the Quran.
It
came as a boon the calligraphers that the Arabic script is full of loops, curves,
dashes, dots and diacritical marks can be deftly manipulated to make a beautiful
work of art. Letters can be broken and combined smoothly with other letters – a
trait that’s hard to find in other scripts.
Islamic
calligraphythus became the primary form of art in Muslim empires, be it the Ottoman
sultanate or the Mughal dynasty or the Safavid rule. Be itthe Sultan Ahmet
Masjid in Istanbul, Turkey or the Qutub Minar in Delhi, India, Islamic
architecture is incomplete without Arabic calligraphy. Unlike European
monuments where figurate paintings were used to decorate walls, the walls of
Islamic monuments were adorned with the art of calligraphy.
Besides
being used for purposes of architecture and interior design, Islamic
calligraphy has also been used to decorate handicrafts like ceramic tiles, ceramic
pottery, carpets, rugs, glassware, wooden work and brassware.
Each
Muslim empire developed its own regional Islamic calligraphy font. The Kufic style,
for instance, has straight, angular strokes and round characters with tiny
counters. It originated in Kufa, Iraq. The Diwani style of elaborate and ornate
writing took off in the Ottoman sultanate.
In
the present era of Internet and globalisation, one can purchaseIslamic wall artacross different ecommerce
platforms such as Amazon, Etsy, Alibaba and Ebay. Muslim wall art is, in fact, a popular art and home décor category.
This explains the emergence of boutique online stores that sell only Islamic wall art, offering various
products like wall stickers, canvas artworks and wooden artefacts. In the past,
only the ruling class or aristocratic families could commission artists to
customise calligraphic pieces for them. But now customisation is a regular option
offered by several Islamic art sellers. You can ask them to make a work of art
with a particular ayat in a particular writing style, a specific size, and the
material you want .
Islamic wall art
is not only sold as home décor, but also as a wedding gift. A buyer in UK can buy Muslim wall artfrom astore in India.
Therefore,as is amply clear,Islamic art is set to grow given the expanding market
demand and supply as well as diversification. We hope that there are enough
artists to keep up with the rising demand. Indeed, for this art to thrive, a
new, young breed of calligraphers is needed to keep up with the demand.
