Arabic Calligraphy

(b Diyarbakir, 1891; d Istanbul, 10 May 1982). Turkish calligrapher. Originally called Musa Azmi, he was the grandson of Seyyid Adem, a famous calligrapher of Diyarbakir. He practised writing in Diyarbakir with his school teacher Mustafa Akif Tütenk and others, and in 1908 went to Istanbul to continue his education, first at the School of Law and then at the Fine Arts Academy. However, he was soon forced to give up his studies to earn a living. In 1910 he became a writing teacher at the Gülsen school in Istanbul, where he taught the calligrapher Halim Özyazici. He went on to direct the Rusumat press and then worked at the press of the Military Academy in Istanbul. During World War I he worked for one year in Germany, where he prepared military maps. After the war he resigned his job and began to work independently. He changed his name to Hamid Aytaç, and in the early years of the Turkish republic made labels and calling cards. As a calligrapher he practised the jali-thuluth (Turk. celi-sülüs) style with Mehmed Nazif (1846–1913), the naskh and thuluth styles with Kamil Akdic (1862–1941) and the ta`liq style with Mehmed Hulusi (1869–1940). He worked on a number of magnificent manuscripts, including Korans. He also worked at the Sisli Mosque in Istanbul and on other buildings in Istanbul and Ankara.
source: http://calligrapher.wordpress.com

Abū Rāqım Hāshim b. Muhammad b. Hājj Dirbās al-Qaysī al-Baghdādī was born in 1335/1917 in the Khān Lawand Quarter in Baghdad. From early childhood, he was strongly attracted to calligraphy, studying briefly under Mullā 'Ārif al-Shaykhlī and then under 'Ali Sābir. Eventually he began practicing calligraphy under the supervision and guidance of Shaykh Mullā ‘Alī al-Fadlī, who gave him an ijāzet (“certificate” of calligraphy) in 1363/1943. In 1364/1944, Hāshim went to Egypt, where he was admitted into the Calligraphy Institute in Cairo. The instructors and administrators there were highly impressed with his work and allowed him to sit immediately for the final examination of the senior class; he obtained first-class honors. He was given a second ijāzet by the well-known Egyptian calligrapher Sayyid Ibrāhīm (1315/1897 - 1414/1994), and another by the calligrapher Muhammad Husnī in 1364/1944. The Institute's administrators asked him to stay in Egypt and teach, but he returned to Baghdad and opened a calligrapher's shop in 1365/1946. He later went to İstanbul, where he became acquainted with the Turkish calligraphers, especially Hāmid Aytaç, who gave him two certificates of appreciation in lieu of an ijāzet, one in 1370/1950 and another in 1372/1952. For four years, as of 1375/1955, he studied with Mācid Ayral who had come from Baghdad to İstanbul and greatly benefited from working with him.

Hāshim served as a calligrapher in the Surveyors' Department in Baghdad from 1380/1960 until he was transferred to the Ministry of Education, where he was appointed head of the Department of Decoration and Calligraphy in the Institute of Fine Arts.

Hāshim was deeply influenced by the Turkish calligraphers. He greatly admired the work of Hāfız Osman; Mehmed Şevki; Hacı Ahmed Kāmil Akdik; and Hāmid Aytaç. His admiration for Mustafa Rākım was so great that he named his son after him and began calling himself Abū Rāqım, or Rāqım's father. In İstanbul, he used to visit Necmeddin Okyay, who owned a distinguished collection of calligraphic works.

In the hope of popularizing this art, Hāshim issued a collection of calligraphic pieces in riq‘ah and another in a variety of scripts. He also supervised the publication of Mušhaf al-Awqāf, which was published for the first time by the Surveyors' Department. This is a splendid muşhaf calligraphed in 1236/1821 by the Turkish calligrapher Mehmed Emin er-Rüşdī (thirteenth/nineteenth century). The muşhaf was presented by Pertevniyal, mother of Sultan Abdülaziz, to the Mosque of the Great Imām al-Nu'mān b. Thābīt, known as Abū Hanīfah. Hāshim illuminated the beginning of the Mushaf anew, numbered its verses, wrote the titles of the sūrahs, and the numbers of the hizbs, juz’es, and sajdahs in a manner acceptable to Arab taste.

In addition to kıt'as, hilyes, and levhas, Hāshim calligraphed decorative friezes in mosques and other buildings in Baghdad and other cities; these were done on faience or marble, mostly in jalī thuluth. The rarest of his works are in kūfī script, as in the ‘Abd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī Mosque and the Hājj Mahmūd Mosque. Hāshim al-Baghdādī died on 27 Rabī‘I 1393/30 April 1973 in Baghdad and was buried in the Khayzuran Cemetery.

Source: Waleed al-'A'zamī, Tarajimu khattati Baghdad el-Muasirin, Beirut 1977, p.254-75. http://ircica.org

Calligrapher Osman Özçay was born in Çaykara, in the province of Trabzon in 1963. He attended the same school as his brother Mehmet in Gerede and finished high-school there. After studying at the Islamic Institute in Erzurum for two years, he transferred to the Islamic Studies Department of Marmara University in Istanbul. He graduated in 1986.

In 1982, even though he did not have a special interest in Islamic calligraphy, he joined his brother when he first visited calligrapher Fuat Başar. He was suddenly attracted to the art and he started lessons in the script Thuluth the same day. He later received his diploma in the scripts of thuluth and naskh from his teacher.

When he came to Istanbul, he met M.Uğur Derman from whom he has benefited greatly throughout the years. Mr. Derman gave him some copies of Sami Efendi`s Jali Thuluth writings which were written for a public water fountain behind `Yeni Cami` (New Mosque) in Istanbul. These sources served as the most important guide in learning the script of Jali Thuluth.


In the first (1986) and second (1989) international competitions organized by The Research Centre for Islamic History, Art and Culture (IRCICA) which serves as the secretaryship of The Commission for the Preservation of Islamic Cultural Heritage associated with the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, he received five awards, gaining second and third prizes in various scripts including Jali Thuluth and Thuluth. He won the first prize at the calligraphy competition organized by the Maktab al-Shahid Kuwaiti institute in 1997.

Osman Özçay has participated in personal exhibitions with his brother Mehmet Özçay in Istanbul (1996), Abu Dhabi (1998), Sharjah (1999), and Dubai (2003). He has also taken part in the exhibitions organized by IRCICA in association with the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing in Dubai 2003, 2004 and 2005. In 2003, he participated in the calligraphy exhibition in Tokyo and joined some other calligraphers on The Days of Arabic Calligraphy in Tunisia in 1997 and 2006. He has also participated in various exhibitions in Turkey and abroad.

Osman Özçay is producing works in the styles of thuluth, jali thuluth, naskh and muhaqqaq according to the classical approach. Throughout the years his pieces of calligraphy have entered museums and special collections.

source: www.ozcay.com