Four artists come together to convey messages of God through art, writes Zuliantie Dzul
THE message is clear — no provocation, no political satire, no insults, only good words. With that in mind, Tajdid Islamic Arts Group, founded in July, is showcasing a contemporary Islamic art exhibition to spread God’s word at the New Straits Times Press main lobby in Kuala Lumpur.
With the theme At-Tayyibah, meaning the good words, this exhibition is also great exposure for the group of four artists who hail from various disciplines of the creative industry, from architect, graphic designer, industrial designer, to advertising, art and architecture history. They have all undergone decades of formal training in calligraphy.
Calligraphy is the most highly regarded and most fundamental element of Islamic art. It’s significant that the Quran was transmitted in Arabic and that inherent in the Arabic script is the potential for developing a variety of ornamental forms.
Artist Ismail Md Zain, 60, wants to convey the message of God in a simple way yet still keep the aesthetic values. He has persevered in producing digital khat contemporary artwork, with most of it using thuluth khat, a script calligraphy designed by Persian Ibn Muqlah Shirazi. Each letter in the script is one-third italics. Some of the oldest copies of the Quran were written in thuluth style.
“We all use computers nowadays. It’s a familiar tool which many people know how to use. I want people to see my work, learn from it and try to do it on their own,” says Ismail. It’s his hope that those who’ve seen or own his artwork will always remember God.
Meanwhile, 54-year-old Abdul Ghafur Tahir isn’t a full-time artist. This former architect, however, has had some experience in Islamic art, having been involved in designing many mosques and surau. “It’s a subject close to my heart,” he confides. “I’m not really good at jawi and khat, but I learn and I adapt many of my paintings from other designs.”
Abdul Ghafur spent about 20 years travelling worldwide to do research on Islamic art and uses acrylic on canvas as his medium. In the early years of his foray into art sometime in 2007, he used to keep his artworks at home. Now he owns an art gallery, has participated in many art exhibitions and has enjoyed several solo art shows in Malaysia.
For Ariff Ashaari, his passion lies in the kufi murabba’, one of the khat forms. It’s the latest of its kind and the most simplified. The term murabba’ dictates a display of crafty arrangements in its square-like, cubic or checkered nature.
Since end of 2009, the 63-year-old full-time artist has been studying and practicing square kufic and is one of the pioneers behind the group, Friends of Kufi Square, on Facebook. He shares: “I want to popularise the art of kufi murabba’. My vision is to set a new standard of systematic square kufic where it’s highly disciplined and yet still fun and enjoyable to practice. I want to turn something this simple into something interesting to send my message.”
Ariff has been involved in many projects using kufi murabba’ such as murals, logos and paintings. His floral kufic logo for the “Majlis Tilawah Al-Quran dan Hafazan Peringkat Antarabangsa 2014” was the first floral kufic in the world to be used in an international event.
The only female artist in the group, businesswoman Sharinah Md Noor, wants to bring something different to the table. She combines 3D and painting to create her art. “Everyone can paint. Not many women can do calligraphy and I want my art to be admired by all, even by the blind. That’s why I use relief in many of my paintings so the blind can touch and feel the message I’m trying to convey,” says the 53-year-old.
This exhibition, as with all exhibitions to come, is to primarily showcase the artists’ talents and love for the divine expressed through art and calligraphy. “As we progress, it’s our vision to collaborate with one another to create work that would be able to highlight each one of our diverse talents into a single artwork,” says Syed Iskandar, the coordinator and curator of the group.
He concludes: “My hope is to work with many other artists and makers of art in Malaysia who share the same vision. That is to further strengthen the art scene here and in the region while propagating our love for the divine.”