Mouneer Al-Shaarani Explained

Mouneer Al-Shaarani
منير الشعراني
Field:Graphic arts, Arabic calligraphy
Nationality:Syrian
Birth Place:Salamiyah, Syria
Birth Date:16 September 1952
Website:Mouneer Al-Shaarani on Facebook

Mouneer Al-Shaarani (; born September 6, 1952) is a Syrian graphic artist specialized in Arabic calligraphy.[1] Al-Shaarani is known as calligrapher, graphic designer and writer about Arabic calligraphy and Arab Islamic art. He has designed several Arabic typefaces for book covers or other graphic creations. His work has been exhibited in several Arab countries, Malaysia, Europe, Australia and the United States and is internationally present in collections of contemporary Arabic art.[2] [3] Between 1985 and 2007, he lived and worked in Cairo, Egypt,[4] and later returned to live in Damascus.

Artistic profile

From the age of 10, Al-Shaarani studied the art of Arabic calligraphy under the Syrian calligrapher Muḥammad Badawi Al-Dirany,[5] and until his graduation in 1977, he studied Fine Arts at Damascus University.

Based on his command of traditional Arabic calligraphy, Al-Shaarani has been using historical calligraphic styles, such as Kairouan Kufic, Square Kufic, Thuluth or Maghrebi script, and at the same time, developed and modernized the shapes of drawing Arabic letters and typeface design according to his personal, modern style.[6] [7] Choosing his texts both from Islamic, as well as from Christian religious sources, but mainly from Arab philosophers or Sufi poets, such as Ibn Arabi, Al-Mutanabbi, or Ibn Sina, he conveys non-religious, but universal messages. An example is this quote from the Lebanese-American poet Khalil Gibran "The whole earth is my homeland and the human family my clan."[8]

Apart from historical quotes, he sometimes also expresses his own contemporary messages, such as in his work entitled There is no creativity where there is no freedom[9] and in his graphic images starting with the message NO TO... "No to killing, no to prison, no to intimidation, no to humiliation, no to hypocrisy, no to oppression, no to violence, no to fear, no to falsehood, no to terrorism, no to corruption."[10]

Another important aspect of Al-Shaarani's artistic work is his view that "Arabic calligraphy has nothing to do with religion. It is the result of a civilization and not a religion. Religion benefited from calligraphy and not the other way round. The development of Arabic script was not initiated by religion, but by the state of the Umayyads. Second, calligraphy is an art. It has no finality or climax. The Arabic script has no “sacred” status for me."[11]

Among his other calligraphic work, Al-Shaarani created the logo for the Syrian group for Arabic classical music, called Takht al-nagham in New York City.[12]

Critical reception

In 2016, digital media platform Mashable published several of Al-Shaarani's graphic works, expressing his artistic statements about his war-torn country, including comments on his poetic and philosophical messages.[13] In the 2020 historical overview A History of Arab Graphic Design by Egyptian art historians Bahia Shehab and Haytham Nawar,[14] Al-Shaarani is credited for his invention of new Arabic calligraphic styles and his calligraphic work for book covers, logos, and typeface design.[15] In 2023, Lebanese writer Huda Smitshuijzen AbiFarès co-published a monograph both in Arabic and English titled Mouneer Al-Shaarani, Against the Grain: Exploring the Scope of the Arabic Letter. Apart from chapters about his personal creations developing Arabic calligraphy into a modern graphic art, the book features several of his book covers and information on his political engagement.[16]

Al-Shaarani's graphic art has been featured in Arabic and international news media and exhibited in several Arab countries, Malaysia, Europe, Australia and the United States. His biography and work By their fruits, you shall know them were included in the British Museum's 2006 exhibition and catalogue Word into Art. Artists of the Modern Middle East.[17] It is also internationally present in public and private collections of contemporary Arabic art.[18]

Major exhibitions

See also

Literature

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. Ghazoul. Ferial J.. 2001-01-01. The poetics of calligraphy: an interview with Mouneer Al-Shaa'rani. Alif: Journal of Comparative Poetics. English. 288–290.
  2. Web site: Mouneer Al-Shaarani. Khatt Foundation. en. 2020-04-19.
  3. Web site: Mouneer Al Shaarani - Art on 56th. 2021-10-15. www.arton56th.com.
  4. Web site: people - Sharjah Art Foundation. sharjahart.org. 2020-04-19.
  5. Book: Muḥammad Badawī al-Dīrānī, khaṭṭāṭ Bilād al-Shām = Arabic calligrapher Badawi Al-Dirani 1894-1967 /. 2008. al-Amānah al-ʻĀmmah li-Iḥtifālīyat Dimashq ʻĀṣimat al-Thaqāfah al-ʻArabīyah. Damascus.
  6. Web site: In conversation with Mouneer Al Shaarani. The National. 18 April 2015. en. 2020-04-19.
  7. Huda Smitshuijzen AbiFarès and Nagla Samir, Mouneer Al-Shaarani, Against the Grain: Exploring the Scope of the Arabic Letter. 2023, p. 28-74
  8. Web site: منير الشعراني - Mouneer Alshaarani. www.facebook.com. en. 2020-04-19.
  9. Web site: One Fine Art artists - calligraphers / Mouneer Al Shaarani. 2021-10-15. www.onefineart.com.
  10. News: Leyne. Jon. 2012-03-19. Syrian artists portray year of bloodshed and turmoil. en-GB. BBC News. 2021-10-15.
  11. In an interview on the occasion of his exhibition in Berlin in 2018, he is quoted in German like this: Erstens hat die arabische Kalligraphie nichts mit Religion zu tun. Sie ist das Ergebnis einer Zivilisation und nicht einer Religion. Die Religion profitierte von der Kalligrafie und nicht umgekehrt. Die Entwicklung der arabischen Schrift wurde nicht von der Religion angestoßen, sondern vom Staat der Umayyaden. Zweitens ist die Kalligraphie eine Kunst. Sie kennt weder Endgültigkeit noch Höhepunkt. Die arabische Schrift hat für mich keinen „heiligen“ Status – ich will genau diesen Käfig aufbrechen, der in der Zeit der Osmanen um die Schrift herum errichtet wurde.http://www.freiraum-berlin.org/mouneer-al-shaarani-de
  12. Web site: Performance Syrian Music Preservation Initiative. 2021-10-15. syrianmusic.org.
  13. Web site: Bogle . Ariel . 2016-03-10 . Syrian artist's stunning calligraphy captures the hope of a war torn country . https://web.archive.org/web/20230928170123/https://mashable.com/article/mouneer-al-shaarani-art . 2023-09-28 . 2024-02-14 . Mashable . en.
  14. Book: Shehab . Bahia . A History of Arab Graphic Design . Nawar . Haytham . 2020 . American University in Cairo Press . 978-977-416-891-8 . en.
  15. Web site: Smitshuijzen AbiFarès . Huda . 2022-07-21 . A Kaleidoscopic Overview of Graphic Design from the Arab World . 2022-09-01 . Art Journal Open . en-US.
  16. Web site: Smitshuijzen AbiFarès . Huda . Samir . Nagla . 2023-12-28 . Mouneer Al-Shaarani, Against the Grain: Exploring the Scope of the Arabic Letter - Khatt Books . 2024-02-14 . Khatt Books - Publishers on design and visual culture of the Middle East and North Africa . en-US.
  17. Book: Porter, Venetia . Word into Art. Artists of the Modern Middle East . 2006 . London : British Museum Press . Internet Archive . 978-0-7141-1163-6 . 35, 140.
  18. Web site: Mouneer Al Shaarani - Art on 56th . 2024-02-14 . www.arton56th.com.
  19. Web site: Mouneer Al Shaarani @ Europia Art Gallery, Paris, 2016. 2021-10-15. europia.org.
  20. Web site: Calligraphie : De la musique pour les yeux - Ahram Hebdo . 2022-02-04 . hebdo.ahram.org.eg . https://web.archive.org/web/20220216021934/https://hebdo.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1409/5/25/36138/Calligraphie--De-la-musique-pour-les-yeux-.aspx . 16 February 2022 . dead.

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