For the first time in the Baltic’s within the anticipated annual project RUMI FEST, the opening of the festival commenced with the first exhibition dedicated to Arabic calligraphy. This was the first ever opportunity to witness authentic art pieces of renowned Turkish masters, true gems of today’s contemporary art scene – meet them in person and participate in the hosted masterclasses.

On the 21st of August the exhibition was presented by 5 internationally acclaimed masters of calligraphy: Abdurrahman Depeler from Konya, Seyit Ahmet Depeler from Konya, ebru master Mustafa Inan from Konya, Fatih Ozkafa from Istanbul, Nurullah Ozdem from Istanbul.

Art of calligraphy for Islamic culture is one of the most distinctive parts of its heritage, that considers it as a visible expression of the highest art of all – the art of the spoken word. In arabic “calligraphy” means “line” and it is seen as an artistic writing and is part of the art discipline where Arabic script communicates and reflects the art form. In Islamic culture such figurative expression gained its popularity by deriving from the taboo in depiction of all human and non-human forms, therefore everything that artists wants to communicate is achieved through expression of ornamentation and calligraphy composition.

It is popular among all age groups and for a newly started student it is vital to be taught by a master himself, as through this path which requires immaculate precision in dedication, patience and imagination, only few will graduate with an appraised distinction.

Turks have made an invaluable impact in development of Arabic script and achieved high esthetical level, making a derivation to the art form expression. In early years of Islam Kufic script writing was used with distinctive geometrical character, whereas today the art of Husn – i-hatt ( beauty of writing ) captivates by its scope of forms and fine sophistication. In order to master this skill of calligraphy one has to repeatedly learn how to write a symbol with a single brush stroke, which can take up to few years of mastership in order to achieve closed eye fineness.

Ebru or marbling art is an ancient Eastern art form, a unique dance of colours on water performed by gentle hand plasticity of an artist, creating unrepeatable ornaments.