ISLAMABAD: An exhibition of prized calligraphy by Chinese artists will open at Gallery 6 on Friday.

These special calligraphic works comes from the collection of Asad Raza, who is a United States based collector and expert on Islamic Art.

Asad Raza has been collecting Islamic calligraphy by Chinese artists for thirty years. He has made several trips to China during this time and created a network of prominent calligraphers and Chinese Forums from which he collected these pieces.

The collection features 27 works in varying sizes. Most pieces have intricate silk borders in white, yellow, green and red.

Most works are by Haji Abdul Hakim, whose Chinese name is Haji Liu Jingyi.. He is Chairman of Chifeng Islam Association and Imam of the mosque of Chifeng. Imam Hakim, now 85, was attracted to the art of calligraphy since childhood and studied calligraphy under the famous Chinese calligrapher Guo Zhenduo.

He initially acquired a solid foundation in Chinese calligraphy techniques and skills. As a teenager, he was an apprentice of one of the most famous Arabic calligraphers in the Eastern part of China, Imam Cao Jinzao

Haji Abdul Hakim’s ability to learn the skills of calligraphic writing in both Chinese and Arabic helped him to produce works that gained international appreciation. He began his work by using the traditional Chinese method (ie the Chinese brush) to write Arabic calligraphy in the Sini style. But soon he started using the reed pen and wooden spatula in his works as well.

He does Arabic calligraphy with a hint of typical Chinese style using dry ink and the harp semi triangular clear-cut tips of vertical letters made using the reed pen.

He also uses a brush to write the Chinese translation of the text, along with his signature. Another incorporation of the Chinese style is the scroll and couplet formats in his works, both of which reflect his early education in the Chinese calligraphic tradition.

He uses several well-established Chinese scripts in his writing, such as the rough and strong Da Kai style, the rounder in form and graceful Zhong Kai style, and the Xiao Kai style, which is smooth.

On the other hand, he also uses a variety of standard Arabic calligraphic scripts in his work, including the Thulth and Diwani.

In addition to these, the gallery is also displaying some rare lithographs from Islamic Arts, including two rare reproductions of hand coloured pieces depicting the flooding of Makah in 1951. Other lithographs depict worshipers bowing before the God and offering prayers in diverse and challenging settings from the 19th century.

There is also a miniature script in ‘Maghrebi’ style from the famous ‘Dalailul Khairat’ from the 17th century and lithographs of Haj pilgrims approaching Mecca, by a Dutch lithographer, Marius Bauer, published in London in 1926.

This exhibition will continue till January 6.

Published in Dawn, December 26th, 2014