A young 22 years old calligrapher, named Ammar Kamal, was recently interviewed by us through an audio call. We chatted for a while and discussed a variety of aspects of calligraphy. The interview was full of immense knowledge and experiences that the young calligrapher shared with us. We started the interview by letting Ammar Kamal introduce himself, which later on with the flow of conversation turned into a very interesting talk as Ammar went disclosing the in-depth colors of calligraphy.
The interview started
with the introduction: “My name is Ammar Kamal and I live in Karachi, and I am
a calligrapher. I learned calligraphy from Ustad Kashif, who is the teacher of
my cousin. Ustad Kashif is a renounced teacher of calligraphy who teaches
calligraphy at Karachi University for the past 10 years. He also owns a venture
named as ‘Sareer-ul-Kalam’ through which he places various workshops at
different universities and art councils.” He said.
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| Ammar Kamal's Calligraphy Work |
More ever, sharing his opinions about calligraphy, he said:
“Calligraphy is an extremely widespread art which is done all over the world. It
is not bound to only a pen & paper anymore now. Apart from its widespread and extended
application in the world, it is also a very traditional and sacred kind of art
because it was started in the time of Holy Prophet (PBUH) when Holy Quran was
revealing.”
Then he continued to explain the foreground story of
calligraphy by saying: “At first, the Hoy Quran was written in simple Arabic writing,
but afterward, a few groups of Asahaba Karam were appointed to assign the Holy
Quran. One group was made to remember the Holy Quran and the other was to write
Holy Quran in very beautiful handwriting. This is where calligraphy took place.”
He affirmed that calligraphy is a spiritual work to do by
saying “It makes me connect with Allah.”
And then interpreted it by clarifying that when you are
indented to do calligraphy, you make an environment, a spiritual environment,
you keep the place clean, you make Wuzu, and you make an intention to do it with
complete heart and soul and start doing it by reciting Bismillah. Because you
know that these verses are the words and voice of Allah and His Rasool
(S.A.W)!!!
Then the conversation turned to talk about the difference
between Khatta’tee and calligraphy. Ammar told us that both are the same.
Because Calligraphy in Urdu is translated as Khatta’tee; which is taken from
the word ‘Khat’ that means to write something in a very beautiful manner under
certain rules and regulations.
He said: “Calligraphy has particular rules and patterns to
follow. If we talk about Arabic calligraphy, it is based on numerous practices
like sharpening the tools, quality of paper such as Ahar: a kind of paper made
from the egg whitening, or the concentration to stop the breath while moving
the brush & not to shiver the fingers or hands, and ink emersion that which
area of a letter should be thick or thin with ink.”
“There are theories behind each letter.” He added further.
He told that calligraphy is also done in many other
languages like Faarsi (Persian), Damask, Nastaleeg, etc.
“Arabic Calligraphy is most supreme among all,” he said.
“And it also has more styles within it”
When came to products from calligraphy, he told by
elaborating Topography (digital calligraphy) as the calligraphy used in
architecture or artwork such as digital logos/designing in Arbi or English
nowadays.
At last, he ended the interview by
giving a few pieces of advice to the new calligraphers and said: “Patience is the most basic requirement for the calligraphers.”
“In terms of money-making, it needs a lot of patience and
time. In Pakistan, there is a very small market of calligraphy in my perception
and experience, as compared to the other countries. Sometimes you won’t be
offered the worth price of your article due to negligence of the buyers
regarding the efforts it took to be. So the calligraphers should know the
respect and worth of the work they do, which ultimately leads them to patience!!
He also tried to emphasize the
importance of theoretical and practical knowledge of calligraphy by telling a
story of him that he learned to write ‘Alif’ only for more than two months and
his teacher still guides him to improve it much better.
“There are theories behind each letter. These theories are
very important to learn.” He said in the end.
Connect to Ammar Kamal
The Writer: Sawera Imam Abbasi