Calligraphy
Center
The Calligraphy Center will conduct special studies for Arabic and other scripts. It will introduce various scripts by publishing specialized studies, as well as hold relevant exhibitions. It will collect samples of different scripts from all over the world, and hold other activities in accordance with the BA mission.
The Second International Forum of Calligraphy,
Writing and Inscriptions
This Forum will be held every two years. It was held for the first
time from 24-26 April 2003 and the second Forum will be held from 24-26 April
2005. The main aim of the Forum is to gather the specialists in
all fields of calligraphy studies from all over the world to help
creating specialized dialogues amongst them and to present the new
discoveries and researches in calligraphy.
Alphabets
Alphabets is a scientific annals specialized in calligraphy with
a scientific editorial board and a scientific council responsible
for the arbitration of researches. The first issue will be published
in July 2004.
Studies
"Studies" is a scientific arbitrated series
responsible for publishing specialized calligraphy books. The first
published book in this series was entitled “Scripts”, written by
the Norwegian Researcher Olaf Berggren.
The following titles will also be published in this
series:
- Translation of the book entitled “The History of Writing”. Flammarion
Publishing House, Paris, France, originally published this book.
- "Ancient Egyptian Language” written in English by Dr. Abd
EL Halim Nur Eldin.
- The book entitled “Tohaf El-Khawas Fi Toraf El-Khawas”, a rare
Andalusian manuscript on the different types of ink and their composition,
written by El Kalalousy and verified by Dr. Hossam ElAbady.
- The Catalogue of “ The Writings on the Walls of the Al-Hambra
Palaces”, as it is considered to be the first scientific work, which
gathered and analyzed these writings. These “Writings” include poems
of Ibn Zamrak, Lesan El-Din Bin El-Khateeb, Ibn El-Gayab describing
these Palaces, which are considered to be a divan of architecture
and Arabic calligraphy.
Exhibitions
The Calligraphy Center plans to host exhibitions in an attempt to
serve the idea of establishing dialogue amongst nations. Such exhibitions
tell stories about writings in different cultures. The first exhibition
that was hosted by the Center was on the Chinese script. This exhibition
was held in the Library from 8-7-2003 to 31-7-2003. In addition,
the Center is preparing for another exhibition entitled “ The Journey
of Writing in Egypt”. The exhibition will present writing in Egypt
since the pre dynastic era till the invention of hieroglyphics and
its development into Demotic then Hieratic as well as the emergence
of the Greek and Coptic writings. It will also present the masterpieces
of Arabic calligraphy in Egypt from the 7th century till the present
day.
The Cultural Season
The cultural season aims at hosting the archeologists and the most
famous scribes in Egypt and the different parts of the world. This
season will be held in co-operation with the specialized institutions
in Alexandria and Cairo.
The Pilot Project "Documentation
of Writings in Alexandria":
This project aims at recording and listing as well as studying the
writings on the monuments in Alexandria, specially the Greco-Roman
and Islamic monuments in a digital format. These writings will be
published in their original language in addition to publishing them
in English and Arabic. This experimental project is considered to
be an introduction to a bigger project for recording and listing
writings found on all the monuments of Egypt. It will then expand
in the future to other countries. It is expected that this project
will be implemented in co-operation with a number of local, regional
and international institutions.
The Digital Production
The Center started to prepare the digital production of calligraphy.
The first production which is a CD containing one thousands types
of the best Arabic calligraphies was done in cooperation with Zayed
Heritage Center at the United Arab Emirates. The Center is currently
preparing the production of a CD on the ancient Egyptian language and
another CD on Arabic Calligraphy.
Mohamed and Kamel Ibrahim exhibition
The Alexandria Arabic Calligraphy School was very famous due to
its pioneers in Arabic Calligraphy. The most famous of these pioneers
were Mohamed Ibrahim who was born on 2 September 1902 and died on
13 May, 1970, and his brother Kamel Ibrahim who was born on 2 April,
1925 and died in 12 January2002. They have both donated some of
their works to the Library of Alexandria. To honor their great contributions
to Arabic calligraphy, the Library established a permanent exhibition
for their works and prepared a booklet on these works.
The Aesthetics of Arabic Calligraphy Unit:
This was the first Unit that was established in the Center. It is
specialized in studying the aesthetics of Arabic calligraphy from
the artistic point of view. In addition, it is responsible for holding
exhibitions for contemporary scribes and establishing a database
for them. One of the goals of this Unit is to improve Arabic handwriting
in schools and universities as well as improve Arabic calligraphy
skills for the young. The Unit prepared and held many workshops
for teaching and improving Arabic calligraphy for children and it
also held training sessions for adults.
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