Arabic Calligraphy: Learn Kufic Script
Punctuation (Golden Motifs)
A course by Joumana Medlej , Calligraphy Artist
About the video: Punctuation (Golden Motifs)
Overview
“Punctuation did not always exist in Arabic. The closest precursor is the system of verse markers in the Qur’an: a simple symbol to indicate the end of one verse, a more ornate one every five verses, another to mark ten verses, and the largest and most decorative one was reserved to mark the end of a chapter. They could be done in black, but typically they were painted in gold and other colours. This system can be readily adapted to other types of text by creating three markers: basic for commas, intermediate for full stops, and a decorative medallion to mark the end of text. Here there really is no rule for how they should look other than keeping a logical hierarchy. I’ll show different examples and finish my page with designs inspired from historical examples, painted with gold gouache.”
In this video lesson Joumana Medlej addresses the topic: Punctuation (Golden Motifs), which is part of the Domestika online course: Arabic Calligraphy: Learn Kufic Script. Explore the ancient Arabic script style of Kufic by learning to write a short text using traditional artistic practices.
Partial transcription of the video
“Punctuation (Golden Motifs) The word "punctuation" doesn't reflect the medieval usage because in the manuscripts there was nothing. There weren't commas or full stops or anything. Sentences just followed each other, but in the Koran they used the verse markers, that means a very simple mark after one verse, a slightly more complex one after five verses and then more elaborate ones from ten versus on, and we can adapt the system to create a system of punctuation for our use. For instance, our simplest mark is going to be a coma, something more decorative for full stops, and maybe something r...”
This transcript is automatically generated, so it may contain mistakes.
Course summary for: Arabic Calligraphy: Learn Kufic Script
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Category
Calligraphy & Typography -
Areas
Calligraphy
Joumana Medlej
A course by Joumana Medlej
Joumana Medlej is a Lebanese calligraphy artist based in London. Though she is known for her use of Kufic scripts, her work encompasses also encompasses other fields including graphic design, drawing, illustration, digital games, and children’s literature.
Joumana teaches Manuscript Kufic and Square Kufic at the Arab British Centre and her studio in the UK, rediscovering traditional inks and paints along the way. She has collaborated with Apple, Amnesty, the Khayrallah Center at NCSU, BBC Arabic, and the Royal Hashemite Court of Jordan, among others.
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