Middle East

Startup of the Week: Preserving the culture of Arabic calligraphy

Author: Tue, 2018-10-09 02:24

JEDDAH: The Kashidah project offers courses in Arabic calligraphy to help resolve the current disconnect with the Arabic language culture that many of the young generation experience.

Kashidah offers a three-month course to teach Arabic calligraphy to children and adults, as well as a creative calligraphy toolbox to help students learn.

From steps to sharpen the pen to prepare the ink, a bilingual book is attached to the toolbox.

It has been created to identify the importance of each tool used in Arabic calligraphy and to provide information about the culture of Arabic calligraphy.

The concept of “Kashidah is to highlight the importance of Arabic calligraphy and to prevent this art form from disappearing in a technology-driven world.

Khadijah Fadaaq, the Saudi founder of the project and a fresh graduate in visual communications from Dar Al-Hekma University, said: “Recognizing the importance of learning Arabic calligraphy will create an awareness about Arabic calligraphy culture by using local art to embrace ones culture.

“We aim to find a proper way for students to gain the skill of Arabic calligraphy as well as open new doors for different people to discover more about the culture of this art,” she said.

Fadaaqs calligraphy work was selected for the new Saudi Airlines private aviation logo, “Albayraq.”

Kashidah is a Persian word; in Arabic it means the technique used in calligraphy to extend the line between the letters of Arabic script to equalize and beautify the text. It is a type of justification in some cursive scripts related to Arabic.

“During the designing of the toolbox I was trying to make it functional and comfortable for students to carry with the strap to their classes,” Fadaaq said.

“We want to encourage students to start using Arabic calligraphy in their career and also, to show them some examples of how people excelled at calligraphy and used it with creativity in their fields.”

Kashidah offers Arabic calligraphy courses with volumes for each script, such as “Naskh” and more Arabic calligraphy styles, with everything students need to master the techniques; courses are held at trusted educational spaces.

Main category: Saudi ArabiaTags: #StartupoftheWeekcalligraphy Startup of the Week: Adding colors to the Saudi cultural landscapeStartup of the Week: Animated soaps growing popular among youth in Saudi Arabia

[contf]
[contfnew]

Arab News

[contfnewc]
[contfnewc]

Related Articles

Middle East

Israel PM ‘flew to Saudi Arabia for secret talks with crown prince’

bbc– Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu secretly flew to Saudi Arabia on...

Middle East

Lebanon’s unfinished revolution: One year after protests, change has yet to come

Issued on: 21/10/2020 – 12:18Modified: 21/10/2020 – 14:28 It's been one year...

Middle East

Israel lauds UAE delegation visit as ‘making history’, Palestinians deem it ‘shameful’

Issued on: 20/10/2020 – 14:27 In an historic first visit by a...

Middle East

Iran rules out weapons ‘buying spree’ as UN embargo is set to expire

Issued on: 18/10/2020 – 07:42 Iran said it was self-reliant in its...