C is for...Chai...Coffee...and...Calligraphy...

is for

Chai!    

Chai, or tea, is drunk by the gallons in Arablands – it is taken black without milk. Tea with milk is less common, especially once you get to out of the way places.

Coffee is known as Qahwa/'Ahwah, and its relationship with Arabia goes back a long way, much farther than tea. While coffee beans came to Arabia from Africa, tea came in from the east - Persian travellers brought it from China through trade. 

And here is a number about women and coffee, from Morocco :

Calligraphy

Calligraphy evolved in all societies primarily to communicate, to project a message to some future time, protect its integrity, and/or archive. 

However, calligraphy in Arabic during the 8^th century grew and spilled over into architecture, decorative arts, design and ornamentation at every level.  Nowhere else will you see the art of writing itself elevated into an artform in its own right.  Begs the question why, doesn’t it?

A new message of faith – Islam, needed to stand out, differentiate itself.  Islam deemed conventional figurative depiction idolatrous - all the templates that had been used before must be done away with and replaced by a new set. Unprecedented, unique, unimagined previously. Very well then, here was calligraphy! It slotted right into the picture, no pun intended, and developed into a totally new art.

Detail of Mudejar calligraphy in Alhambra Palace. Granada, 

Andalusia. Spain. 13th - 15th century.

Modern calligraphic wall art. Bin Matar House Pearl Museum. 

Bahrain.

The early Arabs engaged with China in the 8^th century, and brought back the know-how for paper-making. This new technology revolutionised calligraphy. But calligraphy was in no way restricted to paper - it was used to decorate everything - buildings, ceramics, textiles, every surface was a sheet for the calligraphers.

Kufic 'formal' style calligraphy. Sultan Hassan Mosque. 

14th century. Cairo.

There are broadly two different styles of calligraphy – ‘formal’ and ‘cursive’. Within each there are further subdivisions, each has its own strict set of rules for execution. 


Follow this link here to see what an amazing young Egyptian calligraphy artist is making and this one here to see another from Jordan. Here's calligraphy art in traditional and modern styles - Arabic Calligraphy. Listen, if you have the time, to a calligrapher talk about his art in the clip below:

Did you know Coffee  as a beverage originated in Arabia? It was drunk in the Sufi monasteries of Yemen and Consumed by Arabs at home before it became popular elsewhere.

Posted for the A-Z Challenge 2017