Syria: the art of Khaled Al-Saai

Thank you Maryam of My Marrakech for turning us onto Khaled Al-Saai (1970–), a Syrian artist and calligrapher.



"He grew up in a household surrounded by painting, music and calligraphy."

His work is heady in both word and image, bursting with the spirit of landscape. A master of calligraphy, his profile on kashyahildebrand.org explains the styles he uses:

The Thulth style of calligraphy is the strongest of the Arabic calligraphy styles, created during the Abbasid period in the 9th century in Baghdad. Most of the letters in this style are the shape of a triangle at the top and the vowels are added as decoration.

The Diwany Jalii and the Thulth styles are the most decorative. They are influenced by three Islamic schools of calligraphy (Arabic, Persian and Ottoman). Diwany evolved during the Ottoman Era (1670 to 1700).

The style was used to write official documents of the Sultan to other kings. It conveyed the artistic standards of the Empire at that time. Usually, the text would be written in three different thicknesses of pen.

P.S. You can read Maryam's blog post about her encounter with the artist here >>