A Study of Kufic Script in Islamic Calligraphy and Its Relevance To
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University of Wollongong Research Online University of Wollongong Thesis Collection University of Wollongong Thesis Collections 1999 A study of Kufic script in Islamic calligraphy and its relevance to Turkish graphic art using Latin fonts in the late twentieth century Enis Timuçin Tan University of Wollongong Recommended Citation Tan, Enis Timuçin, A study of Kufic crs ipt in Islamic calligraphy and its relevance to Turkish graphic art using Latin fonts in the late twentieth century, Doctor of Philosophy thesis, Faculty of Creative Arts, University of Wollongong, 1999. http://ro.uow.edu.au/ theses/1749 Research Online is the open access institutional repository for the University of Wollongong. For further information contact Manager Repository Services: [email protected]. A Study ofKufic script in Islamic calligraphy and its relevance to Turkish graphic art using Latin fonts in the late twentieth century. DOCTORATE OF PHILOSOPHY from UNIVERSITY OF WOLLONGONG by ENiS TIMUgiN TAN, GRAD DIP, MCA FACULTY OF CREATIVE ARTS 1999 CERTIFICATION I certify that this work has not been submitted for a degree to any university or institution and, to the best of my knowledge and belief, contains no material previously published or written by any other person, expect where due reference has been made in the text. Enis Timucin Tan December 1999 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I acknowledge with appreciation Dr. Diana Wood Conroy, who acted not only as my supervisor, but was also a good friend to me. I acknowledge all staff of the Faculty of Creative Arts, specially Olena Cullen, Liz Jeneid and Associate Professor Stephen Ingham for the variety of help they have given to me. I also acknowledge with appreciation Nermin Saat9ioglu, Yaprak Erden and, Azize Tan for their valuable helps during this study. CONTENTS CONTENTS I CONTENTS CONTENTS I ABSTRACT TV INTRODUCTION V CHAPTER I: The philosophical bacground to the beginning of Islamic art 1.1 Sufizm and Islamic art 2 1.2 Art in Islam 5 1.3 Mimesis 17 1.4 Prohibition of depiction 22 1.5 The conclusion 25 CHAPTER II: The devolopment of the Kufi script 2.1 The origin of the Arabic alphabet 28 2.2 First calligraphic developments in the Arabic alphabet 34 2.3 Spread of the Arabic alphabet 40 2.4 Revealing of the Kufic form 42 2.5 The Kufi script 46 2.6 The branches of the Kufic script 50 2.6.1 The classification of the Kufic script in the traditional Turkish Islamic arts 54 2.7 The conclusion 56 CHAPTER III: The importance of calligraphy in Turkish history of art 3.1 Calligraphic developments and famous calligraphers in The Turkish calligraphy art (Ottoman period) 60 3.2 Women calligraphers 64 3.3 Expansion of the art of Turkish calligraphy 67 3.4 The main rules of Turkish calligraphy art 78 CONTENTS II 3.4.1 Writing in the Fine Arts 78 3.4.2 The rise of calligraphy as a dominant Islamic art form 80 3.4.3 Mahmud Bedreddin Yazir; Characteristics of Ottoman calligraphy 84 3.4.4 In technical characteristics, the principal role belongs to the rigid aesthetic rules of Turkish calligraphy. These are "Beautiful Form" and "Beautiful Placement". 86 3.5 Traditional Turkish illumination art 88 3.5.1 Illumination 88 3.5.2 Marbled paper (Ebru) 92 3.6 The conclusion 93 CHAPTER IV The summary of the development of Latin alphabet, evolution of graphic concepts and Turkish graphic art history 4.1 Structural development of the Latin alphabet 96 4.2 The typography, its development and newer forms of writing through the invention of printing machine 99 4.2.2 The forms of writing that evolved after the invention of printing machine 99 4.3 Geometric formation of a latin letter 106 4.3.1 Basic design differences of Latin letter 108 4.4 The conclusion for the development Latin alphabet 109 4.5 The Evolution of the Graphic Concepts 111 4.6 The history of Turkish graphic arts 119 CHAPTER V: Creating new arrangements by using Latin Alphabet forms upon an inspiration of Kufic arrangements 5.1 The costitutions of Kufi composition 132 5.2 Creating new arrangements in contemporary graphic forms 135 5.3 The conclusion 153 CHAPTER VI: General conclusion of the thesis 6.1 The beginning of the Islamic art of calligraphy and CONTENTS III the Kufic script. The impact of Tasawwuf (Islamic philosophy) on the art of calligraphy 156 6.2 Modern compositions of Latin alphabet inspired by ancient Kufic models 162 6.3 The principal points in the classical Kufic compositions to be used in contemporary designs 165 6.4 Possible contributions of contemporary compositions to the visual arts of today 168 APPENDIX: The material used in Turkish calligraphy 7.1 Materials used in the art of calligraphy 170 7.2 Materials used 174 7.2.1 The Pen 174 7.2.1.1 Pens that are used in Calligraphy 175 7.1.2.2 Pointing and Cutting Pens 176 7.2.2 The Penknife 177 7.2.2.1 The plain Penknives 178 7.2.2.2 Writing Penknives 179 7.2.3 "Makta"' (Plane) 179 7.2.4 "Hokka" (Inkstand) 180 7.2.5 "Lika" (Silk refuse) 181 7.2.6 Lampblack Ink 182 7.2.6.1 Components of ink 183 7.2.6.2 Coloured Ink 184 7.2.6.3 Gold ink 184 7.2.7 Paper 184 7.2.8 "Mistar" 186 7.2.9 "Zir-i Meshk" 187 ARTWORKS 188 GLOSSARY 204 SOURCE OF LIST 233 BIBLIOGRAPHY 235 ABSTRACT IV ABSTRACT The subject of this thesis is the Kufic script, the oldest Arabic writing from that emerged in the seventh century with the flourishing of Islamic religion. Given the difference between writing and drawing, the Kufic style should be considered as the most akin to drawing among all Arabic writing styles. The thesis argues that compositions created in Kufic script may inspire contemporary graphic artworks produced through Roman alphabet forms. A central part of the research involves situating calligraphy within the broad framework of the Islamic religious philosophy, the evolution of graphic notions, the protestant art trends related to graphic arts and the historical development of Turkish graphic arts. The thesis demonstrates that Turkey, at a crossing point between Europe and Asia, between West and East, between secularism and the Islamic religion, possessed a very rich art historical legacy, and was a point of synthesis. Oscillating between two broad tendencies represented by the East and the West, an innovative artistic response to history is neither a total denial of the past by adopting a blindly radical reformist approach, nor an obstinacy in preserving old forms. This thesis offers a positive approach by giving examples of my own graphic synthesis of old Kufic script compositions, which are part of the Islamic culture, and the Roman alphabet forms, which represent the transition to modernism and Western culture. The thesis argues that this double cultural legacy may be crucial in our pursuit of contemporary art, combining a rational perspective with insights into a rich and conservative tradition. INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION V INTRODUCTION Trends which constitute the history of art evolve in a continuity. Although one could classify history of art into different eras of different categories, although one* could say that these epochs are so different from each other that they cannot be reconciled in a way or another, there is no doubt that they make up a consistent whole which would reveal profound similarities under scrutiny. Every movement in art is a response, negative or positive, to another prior movement. It can be negative in that it can defy prior concepts, practices or conceptions by introducing and advocating their opposite, so it constructs its foundations on a negative proposition. It can also be positive in that it can proclaim itself as the successor of a certain art conception by taking this legacy as the basis and developing it from where it has ended. However, this does not mean that this second approach requires that a ready material be recycled forever. On the contrary, it is interpreted, transformed, adapted to the age and evolved into something brand-new. In whichever case, it must be remembered that the history of art is a continuity. This is true even in the case of the most obvious and defying rupture, since this rupture is nothing but another aspect, the negative aspect, of this very continuity, this is only another link in the chain of the history which evolves from it and which perpetuates it. This thesis, which handles the issue of historical continuity in Turco-Islamic arts in the example of the calligraphy and graphic arts synthesis, also makes sense only in this context. Due to the fact that all movements of art are within a historical context, a central part of the research (Chapter I) involves situating calligraphy within the broad framework of the Islamic religious philosophy. Since representation and drawing were forbidden by religion, Islam artists chose to satisfy the inner need for creation via geometrical and abstract techniques instead of directly describing nature. The art of calligraphy, which offers making art without INTRODUCTION VI referring to natural forms and their direct representation, naturally acquired a prominent status among Islamic arts and developed since it could also convey divine messages. Following the birth of Islam, the Arabic script, as the language of divine messages, acquired variety in terms of styles and aesthetics. Kufic script was used in the reproductions of the Holy Qur'an. Thus, today it is accepted that the Islamic calligraphy art starts with the Kufi script. Hence, the origins and the development of the Arabic alphabet, the emergence of the Kufi script and its role in this development are examined in Chapter II.