Narjes Noureddine is a young Emirati female calligrapher who has studied from the masters in three countries, and who is striving hard to make a name for herself as a serious practitioner of the cultural artform. Here’s her journey as told to Tempo…
“I was born in Abu Dhabi in 1975. I have a diploma in banking studies, and have worked in banking until 2007. Then everything changed…my sole calling became calligraphy. In 2000 I joined Ma’had al-Khat (The Institute of Calligraphy) and the Home of Calligraphers in Sharjah, where I trained under the master calligrapher Khaled al-Sa’iy.”
“In 2004, I was awarded the symbolic prize on the international IRCICA calligraphy competition in Istanbul, which is the oldest and most prestigious international competition of its kind.
“In 2006 I went to Istanbul where I studied under Sheikh Hassan Chalabi and professor Dawood Baktash the discipline of the thuluth script. Then I travelled to Tehran in 2007 to learn the Persian nasta’liq script under professor Abbas Akhawin. I still frequent the two cities — both central hubs in the calligraphy world — to immerse myself in the art.”
“Calligraphy is what interests me the most, but in my spare time I also like reading, cooking, writing, and playing volleyball.
“I have participated in several local and international exhibitions, the most important of which were the Sharjah Islamic Arts Festival in 2002, the Calligraphy Meeting of 2004, and the Dubai International Calligraphy Exhibition in 2005. I also regularly attend open-to-the-public calligraphy workshops.”
“Calligraphy appeared in the early stages of my education. I used to look at the beauty of the paintings and I tried to emulate their essence in my art. I also scrutinized well-written script for long periods of time, and then I used to paint it in my mind. My father encouraged me right from the beginning, and advised me to join the Sharjah Institute of Calligraphy. The institute was where I learned many things. But I was lucky, because even after I got married, my husband was also a major morale-boost for me. Finally he advised me to sacrifice my banker job and pursue calligraphy full-time.”
“A girl from a conservative family like me faces a lot of challenges in a diverse society such as the UAE. Most parents find it hard to stomach the idea of their daughter plunging into society on her own. Pursuing calligraphy naturally requires a person to leave the home and encounter people of many kinds. Thankfully though, this wasn’t a problem with my family: my dad was very understanding and supportive. I know the same can’t be said of other girls whose families aren’t as understanding. My main challenge was the difficulty of juggling my job with my desire to invest more of myself into my art. In fact looking back I feel that my job prevented me from a lot of opportunities.
“I’d like to continue studying calligraphy and offer more of my works to art exhibitions. My husband and I plan at some point to establish a specialized calligraphy gallery. I hope that calligraphy becomes popular with our youth – it’s definitely worth it.“
Narjes’s website:
http://narjesnour.blogspot.com/
https://twitter.com/NarjesNour (twitter)
http://www.facebook.com/narjes.noureddine (facebook)
By Amnah Qasim
