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
Curator - Karim Sultan
