Traditional Calligraphy and Cyan Tiles
In the late June of this year the community of Hayward has embraced a new piece of art which is rooted in traditional cultures from Middle East but meant to communicate with the people of this modern society. Arash Shirinbab, an award winning local Arabic-Persian calligrapher has been working with American Muslim Association (AMA) which is founded and registered by Muslim immigrants of Fiji Islands on 2003, for over a year on “Cyan Tiles” project to prepare and provide hand-crafted tiles that are ornate with Arabic-Persian calligraphy from sacred text and traditional geometric design and abstract floral elements.
Over 250 tiles that Shirinbab prepared are being installed on tile panels on a newly built cultural center (the Gadding Mosque) in Hayward. The contrast of orange-ocher colors of the building with the cyan-blue colors of the tile panels in addition to the architectural style of the center which has a mixture of Turkish, Middle Eastern, and Moorish flavors has gave this center a unique sense of “embracing the diversity” which is the core to Hayward community.
Shirinbab has used Thuluth calligraphy style on the tiles, a style that is one of the oldest Arabic calligraphy styles, established in the 9th century, and few calligraphers in California are acquainted with it. Its legible clear format was originally designed to write the scripture and the unique capacity of the Thulth style in creating various combinations of letters and especially in magnifying them enabled big and brilliant writing of verses on monuments. Many historic architectures including mosques, palaces, mausoleum, and other architectures in Arab countries, Iran, Turkey, and India --along with modern buildings in Europe and America-- hold Thulth.
The intertwining of traditional Arabic-Persian calligraphy extends to the modern world where centers and mosques--even in the US—build in calligraphic architectural elements as the symbolic connection to the sacred space. The contemporary practice of this traditional art is just beginning to sprout on U.S. soil, and there’s a need for young and old to see the tradition as not petrified in the past, but organic and emerging into a diverse future. The “Cyan Tiles” is a project to preserve the traditional art of tile making in California and building an examples of hand crafted tiles with geometric patterns, Arabic-Persian calligraphy, and arabesque designs for public architectures.
