A number of invitation cards of calligraphy exhibitions start arriving as soon as the holy month of Ramzan begins. Although calligraphy has been practiced throughout the year, and for centuries in Muslim societies, the increase of this genre’s public viewing with the days of fasting has become a norm in our surroundings: Something that somehow seems strange and uncanny.
Calligraphy in the last 50 years earned a peculiar past in Pakistan, as it was supported by the military dictatorship of Zia ul Haq (1977-1988) on the expenses of other art forms. Once that regime was gone, and gone were the supporters and promoters of calligraphy as the kosher art form in comparison to other, more explicit and explosive subjects like figure paintings, political comments, or studies of the human body – the art of calligraphy suffered a rightful perception. Mainly its association with religion that was emphasised and exploited by the military junta.
To observe religion is not an unusual practice, and human cultures have thrived on their connection, interpretation and (in some cases) inventions of faith. In the past art has been associated with religion, whether it was Christian iconography, Hindu deities, Buddhist imagery, or the African tribes’ ancestral figurines. In fact in the earliest human history, one could not differentiate between the birth of religion and the beginning of art, since both were blended into each other, especially in the cave paintings from 30 thousand years ago. In the later periods too art was meant to be a vehicle to serve the religious rituals, instead for other motives such as optical experience, aesthetic necessity or sensuous pleasure.
So from the caves of prehistory to glorious canvases of Renaissance the history of art is infused with the sacred content, even though faiths varied from period to period and region to region. However today the believers in some of those faiths are not in a great amount – or not active in the way it was in the past, especially after the modern times (due to the enlightenment in Christianity and the Marxist ideology adapted by Buddhist China). At present a certain kind of atheism, suspicion and alienation with religion is sighted among societies, which are still considered to be Jewish, Christians or Buddhist, but these have extraordinary traditions of art, which were based upon the illustration or depiction of religious themes, narratives and stories.
Yet in those cultures – which in the past produced a great body of religious art, and now have a large number of disinterested public, which hardly considers religious value is important – these works are still appreciated. And not for their historical significance, but for reasons not confined to the limits of faith or the area of heritage. Actually these works, originating in cave painting, to Egyptian art, Mesopotamian statues, Greek marbles and Christian iconography and sculptures, are now enjoyed not for their religious content or importance but for their formal, pictorial and aesthetic aspects. Therefore people, who do not belong to these civilizations/cultures, still appreciate the works, only because the makers of these pieces were able to infuse elements, which surpassed their immediate narratives/meanings or motives to fabricate them. Hence artists were capable of liberating their creations from the narrowness of one interpretation, and conveyed other concepts and aspects of art making, in spite of being from prehistory or belonging to disciplined societies (like Egypt and Mesopotamia).
But when all that pictorial contribution is compared to calligraphy, the question arises, whether the art of writing be adored – or can still be enjoyed sans its sacred content. Actually the history of writing precedes Islamic era, since Chinese calligraphy tradition dates back to thousands of years, but Muslim cultures concentrated on the art of writing (along with geometry and architecture) and made it into a sophisticated form of personal and collective expression. So in our society for years children were taught how to write beautifully in their lower grades by practicing on takhti with reed pen and ink.
Perhaps it would be interesting to link the decrease in that training of calligraphy from our educational system and the rise of calligraphy as art in our culture; particularly with its religious significance. Because when a considerable number of the public was able to write perfectly, calligraphy was not perceived as an ‘exotic’ skill, neither it had a specific sacred connotation, like the Persian verses and Urdu poetry, and quotes by important personalities were transcribed in different styles and scripts. But as soon as calligraphic writing ceased to be a shared cultural practice and experience (in pedagogy), the religious side of calligraphy emerged strongly and was projected to propagate a ‘pious’ version of Pakistani art and society, and was/is marketed for the purpose of bringing good luck and blessing in the houses where pieces of holy text are hung.
Thus the secular content was overshadowed – and obliterated by the sacred script in our midst. So now when we think about calligraphy we cannot detach the religious text from the art of writing beautifully. (Although in our recent past great calligraphers like late Hafiz Perveen Raqam, and Hafiz Yousuf Sadidi inscribed poetry and other lines which were not religious with immense skill and incredible mastery). Only it delineated on a paper or painted on a canvas, calligraphy as an art form is bracketed with religious matters. Not in its content only, but in the approach of its makers and supporters too. Who believe that by including verses from the Holy Quran or sacred names of God, their outputs would be valued and praised (and purchased) highly and easily.