An Arab calligraphy exhibition featuring calligraphers such as Ahmed Fahd, Amal Hafez, Salah Abdel-Khalek, Nabih Al-Refaai, Hammada Al-Rubaa and Mohamed Hassan is currently on display at Duroub art gallery in Garden City. The exhibition showcases a collection of paintings depicting Quranic verses using different styles of calligraphy. It is worth mentioning that Duroub gallery adopted the idea of organizing calligraphy exhibitions on a regular basis since 2005. These exhibitions were a great success and attracted a wide range of audience because Arab calligraphy is the reshaping and restyling of a letter, a word and a sentence to produce a beautiful painting even for those who don't know Arabic. Salah Abdel-Khalek is known as 'the lover of kufi calligraphy' and the discoverer of its secrets. Abdel-Khalek mastered the kufi calligraphy, which is the first Arab calligraphy used in writing the Holy Quran, creating masterpieces for which he received a number of prestigious local and international awards. He is not only concerned with creating artworks decorated with the beautiful forms of calligraphy and colours but he is also carrying over his shoulders the mission of returning to the Arab calligraphy its ancient glory. In this respect, he is very diligent in organizing calligraphy workshops and competitions to promote this momentous art among the young generations protecting the art of Arabic script calligraphy from sinking into oblivion. Abdel-Khalek said that his saga with Arab calligraphy started when he was 11 years old when his art teacher discovered his talent in Arabic writing. There have been countless master calligraphers throughout history. Starting in the early 7th century with Ali Ibn Abi Talib (600-661), the fourth caliph of Islam. Masters taught students, who then became masters and taught others. Different schools developed, each of which was founded by an innovative calligrapher and was followed by others who refined and clarified the founder's work. The exhibition ends on19 June.
