What is Hurufiyya? At first glance, in our moment in the 21st Century, this mode (loosely translated as “letterism”) may be indistinguishable from calligraphy. However, its appearance in the middle of the last century marked a break from a previous era of creative output. Whereas calligraphy carried with it long-standing styles and relationships, modern hurufiyya comes in an era of highly individual exploration, developed amidst modern conditions. The originators of the form, as well as its most innovative practitioners, experienced first-hand the modern experiences of travel, of exile, international life, conflict, and identity, which figure in their work. This exhibition explores various aspects of hurufiyya, its expression throughout the region, and its trajectory into the present, introducing various snapshots of moments, approaches, and artists, and their concerns over the 20th Century and into the 21st.

Whoever Obeys Allah He Will Make For Him A Way Out by Nasser Al SalemBarjeel Art Foundation

Memories by El SeedBarjeel Art Foundation

Baraka by Samir SayeghBarjeel Art Foundation

Untitled by Shakir Hassan Al-SaidBarjeel Art Foundation

Untitled by Omar El NagdiBarjeel Art Foundation

Those Who Watch Other People Will Die of Envy by Ismael Al-KhaidBarjeel Art Foundation

Sans toi, ni moi ou l'hallucination nostalgique by Rachid KoraichiBarjeel Art Foundation

Talisman X-ray Blue (Torso) by Ahmed MaterBarjeel Art Foundation

Untitled (Bismillah) by Mahmoud HammadBarjeel Art Foundation

Al Hamdulillah by Mohamed MandiBarjeel Art Foundation

Basmala V by Mohamed MandiBarjeel Art Foundation

Remains of Trace by Ali HassanBarjeel Art Foundation

Untitled by Hassan MassoudyBarjeel Art Foundation

Untitled by Hassan MassoudyBarjeel Art Foundation

Ezkor Rabbak Eza Nasayt by Jamil HamoudiBarjeel Art Foundation

We Made Every Living Thing of Water by Issam El-SaidBarjeel Art Foundation

Abstraction vert sur fond orange by Mohammed KhaddaBarjeel Art Foundation

La Ana Illa Ana (There Is No ‘I’ But ‘I’) by Kamal BoullataBarjeel Art Foundation

Fi-l Bid Kan-al-Kalima (In the Beginning was The Word) by Kamal BoullataBarjeel Art Foundation

Lam Alif by Kamal BoullataBarjeel Art Foundation

Al-Alif wa-l-Ya by Kamal BoullataBarjeel Art Foundation

The Story of the Peacock by Farah BehbehaniBarjeel Art Foundation

Image (Baghdad) by Raffa NasiriBarjeel Art Foundation

Image (Amman) by Raffa NasiriBarjeel Art Foundation

Al-Mua’alaqat (set of 8) by Dia AzzawiBarjeel Art Foundation

Composition by Saadi Al KaabiBarjeel Art Foundation

Untitled by Madiha OmarBarjeel Art Foundation

Alef by Samir Al SayeghBarjeel Art Foundation

Credits: Story

Curator - Karim Sultan

Credits: All media
The story featured may in some cases have been created by an independent third party and may not always represent the views of the institutions, listed below, who have supplied the content.

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