blog




  • Essay / A Thought on Visiting the Islamic Calligraphy Exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

    The Metropolitan Museum of Art is the largest museum in the United States, it is a 2.2 million square foot museum with more than 2 million collections of works. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, also known as the Met, was not originally that huge, as as the work continued to build, the museum had various additions added to the building. The Met was founded in 1870 by a group of businessmen, artists and financiers. The museum's purpose was to educate Americans about art. The Metropolitan Museum has a collection on the guns of London, the inhabitants of the Kharga oasis, fashion around the world, Indian paintings, scriptures and images of Islamic calligraphy, and many other collections . This essay focuses on the fine collection on writing and imagery in Islamic calligraphy. Calligraphy is a written art, it is the composition of lettering with a broad-tipped brush or other writing instruments. The writing and images in the Islamic calligraphy collection fascinate many people. The word calligraphy comes from the "Greek word kallos, meaning beauty", which it actually holds and the Met Museum depicts this beauty. Calligraphy was and remains a major achievement of Islamic civilization, it is a fundamental element of Islamic art. The Quran, which is the central religious text of Islam and which Muslims believe, is a revelation from God. It is written in Arabic calligraphy which has an aesthetic appeal, considered an art. When writing in calligraphy, an entire word looks like several brush strokes or a single letter looks like an embellishing bow. In Islamic art, plant motifs are considered decorative elements of art. Calligraphy embellishes objects, architecture and objects of daily use, in a way that makes them so elegant and decorative, in the Islamic world. Islam has such creativity and decorative skills in written style that no other religion or culture has ever had. Say no to plagiarism. Get a Custom Essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get an Original EssayThe Islamic Calligraphy Exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum has been open since April 8, 2019, and has about four dozen beautiful attractions based on calligraphy . The combination of writing and image in Islamic calligraphy is visible in the Met's objects. The Metropolitan Museum includes works of art from the 9th century to the present, ceramic arts with calligraphy, metalwork, art of the Quran, and calligraphy written on paper. There is a selection of modern works by artists from Türkiye, Pakistan and Iran, countries where the written word is their primary mode of artistic expression. Islamic calligraphy became a reality in the 7th century when it was used to write the holy book of Islam, the Quran. The first calligraphy was known as Kufic, after a town in southern Iraq. After that, calligraphy became an important form of creative and decorative art. The Islamic collection has had an impact on the museum itself. The collections highlight the diversity and connectivity of all other cultures represented. Art allows visitors to understand different perspectives and explore the rich artistic skills of Islamic cultures. The Metropolitan Museum becomes bigger and better known as it offers people more knowledge. The collection of Islamic calligraphy has had an impact on the museum's visitors. This gives visitors an idea that even calligraphy is an art form. Islamic calligraphyfascinates many visitors with its sophistication, different styles, uniqueness and of course its beauty. Islamic calligraphy has a huge impact on improving art all over the world, it has influenced different cultures on how art can be different. New styles of art were introduced to the world and Islamic art became a kind of cultural exchange. Calligraphy has actually become a priority in some schools because the style is considered very important and appreciated by many. Personally, I am very interested in this exhibition, not because I practice Islam, but because I find calligraphy so skillful, knowing that Muslims use it as an art form, amazes me. I didn't know that I read art almost every other day of my life, because I read Arabic calligraphy in the Quran. I remember when I first walked into the Metropolitan Museum, to me it was just a huge building with thousands of people walking through it. in and out of it. Since I was already across the street in Central Park and had a full day free, I decided to enter the museum to explore. I walked in, looked at all the collections, then saw the Islamic art collection on my left. I walked over to check. The first piece of art, a pink paper torn from a Quran, was something I knew I had seen before. I fluently read everything written on it and found it very fascinating as one rarely sees a Quran in different colors and this old. It was art, art in its own way, an art of Islamic calligraphy that I didn't know really existed. I decided to explore the entire Islamic collection and everything I saw was literally unique, something I wouldn't find almost anywhere else. I was amazed by everything and decided to take my sisters to check it out with me. The Metropolitan Museum has many works of art that strike me, but the one that really stands out is the mosque lamp from the mausoleum of Emir Aydakin al-'Ala'i al-Bunduqdar. This is a light brown mosque lamp made after 1285 in Cairo. This specific piece of art caught my eye because of the way it is constructed. In the middle is an arch surrounded by Arabic calligraphy. I can read Arabic fluently, but I don't know the meaning of what I read, but I managed to ask someone what the writing meant. Records reveal that the lamp was commissioned for the Aidakin Mausoleum, a building in Cairo. Another important piece of art that caught my eye was a woolen rug, known as a prayer rug. It caught my attention because it is surrounded by calligraphy, a specific type of calligraphy known as pseudo-Kufic. Originally it was supposed to be written in Arabic calligraphy on all four borders, but the designer understands that the end is where people walk and Arabic calligraphy should not be stepped on. So he blurred the calligraphy from the end to make it illegible. . The other three borders are legible, allowing me to read Arabic. I find the Met's collection of Islamic calligraphy very attractive and beautiful. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a custom paper now from our expert writers. Get a Personalized Essay Artworks in the Metropolitan Museum's Islamic Collection have specific provenances from around the world. Album sheet with calligraphic exercise, work of art, was created by Asadullah Shirazi. He even wrote a book with practice pages to strengthen a calligrapher's hand and create discipline for repeating written letters..