Art with alphabets

The walls inside the Baitul Mukarram premises were donned with 60 calligraphy arts over the three-day Turkey Bangladesh Calligraphy Exhibition, that ended on Saturday. And those drew appreciations as well as admiration from crowds who, for long, have forgotten that hand-writing done with ink and colours could create magic in the world of keyboards and touch screens. “These are beautiful,” said Razoana Moslem, a grad student in Australia who came to Bangladesh and visited the Turkey Bangladesh Calligraphy exhibition on Friday. “I am a fan of calligraphy art so when I heard that there is an exhibition going on, I couldn’t curb my enthusiasm to go there,” said Moslem who decked herself in veil to visit the mosque premises for the exhibition. The initiative of arranging an exhibition under the bilateral arrangement between the two countries – Bangladesh and Turkey – was taken by Movencare, an organisation that works on promoting cultural heritage and cooperation. MM Shaon, Founder and President of Movencare, said they have selected 60 calligraphy arts out of about 1500 submissions for the exhibition. “We were overwhelmed with the response that we got after we announced about the exhibition on Facebook. It’s good to find out that there are so many hidden talents in the country,” said Shaon. Out of the 60 arts that were displayed, 10 were done by Turkish Calligraphers, and the rest were done by Bangladeshi artists. When asked why he thought of organising an Arabic calligraphy exhibition under a joint collaboration between two countries, Shaon said, “That's because there are a number of calligraphers in the country who don’t get the exposure that they deserve.” “Moreover, it is a religious art. It has spiritual values,” he added. The exhibition ended on Saturday and Shaon informed that they are now planning to hold an auction, in order to sell those calligraphy arts. “During the exhibition, a number of visitors have expressed their interest in buying these works of art. Hence, we want to hold an auction within a month to sell these works of art,” said Shaon. Nihad Ferdous, whose calligraphy art was displayed in the exhibition, is excited about the prospect of calligraphy art in Bangladesh. He thinks exhibitions like these will prove to be encouraging for budding artists who are interested in doing calligraphy works. Ferdous, a banker who spends his spare time doing calligraphy said that he does this “to quench his artistic thirst.” “Creative energy and the need to apply it is innate to every human being – it’s just that not everyone knows where he can excel. For me, its calligraphy, I believe.”