Karya Kufi: Islamic Calligraphy in Malaysia

KARYA KUFI:

THE APPLICATION OF ISLAMIC CALLIGRAPHY

IN MODERN ART CREATIONS IN MALAYSIA

Prepared by

HANAFI BIN ROSMAN

Department of Graphic Design & Digital Media

18 th

December 2013

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1.0. INTRODUCTION

In Islamic world, art is being practiced for many creations. One of the most influential

Islamic art is the case of Arabic or well known as Islamic calligraphy. As an Islamic

country, Malaysia is also influenced by the art of Islamic calligraphy in terms of

writing as well as the art creations. There are a lot of people or artists that practice

Islamic calligraphy in their writing or applying it in their works. Calligraphy is not a

strange art form in this century. It remains relevant and is continuously developed

from traditional into modern style.

1.1. The Definition of Islamic Calligraphy

Islamic calligraphy can be defined in many ways. It is about people

understanding to describe it as a system of writing, a form of art or anything that

could be related to it. The term Islamic calligraphy is just about the same as

Arabic calligraphy. As the alphabets are originally from the Arabic region and

being used to spread Islam during the earliest period, Islamic calligraphy is very

synonym to the world of Islam. Shepherd (2011) explains Arabic calligraphy

reached its peak with writing that fills the pages of the Koran and covers the

walls of mosques.

Through this age, the art of calligraphy is not only been used

contemporarily but it is also has been applied in many medium of art creations.

Graphic design is one of field that has been varied with the element of Islamic

calligraphy. As a wide field of study, it is appropriate and suitable to apply the

element of calligraphy in graphic design. In Malaysia, the element of calligraphy...