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Book Exhibition

Book Launch: Khatt Egypt’s Calligraphic Landscape

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Egyptian cities and villages abound with an enormous wealth of khatt, or calligraphic script, ranging from casual scrawls and scribbles to elaborately-painted colourful murals. These historical and contemporary versions of urban lettering, varying in surface, medium and technique, adorn mosques, shop-fronts, houses, trucks, boats, schools, tuk-tuks and walls. They are records of human existence, documenting expressions of hope, fears, dreams and anxieties. Featuring beautiful and unique examples of these written expressions, Khatt is an extensive visual documentation of the found typography and calligraphy in Egypt, a calligraphy hub that possesses a rich tradition of education and production in the field. This timely volume records the traditional craftsmanship of hand-painted calligraphy, which is fast disappearing because of the digitisation of the Arabic script. Spanning cities across Egypt, and highlighting the history of Arabic script in the country, Khatt is a rich visual source-book, vital for designers, artists and enthusiasts.

 

This is the official BOOK LAUNCH of “Khatt Egypt’s Calligraphic Landscape”. The exhibition “Found Khatt” will be taking place at the same location and time and features selected photographs by Noha Zayed (co-author). Please visit our website to learn more about the book, and see a preview. You can get your signed copy at the event.
Publisher: Saqi Books
Authors: Noha Zayed & Basma Hamdy
Forward: Huda Smitshuijzen AbiFarès
With contributions from:
Mohamed El Shahed, Muhammad ElMahdy,
Ahmad Hammoud, El Seed & Eleiwa
Designer: Engy A Hashem

 

website: khattegypt.com

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CairoScene Coverage of the Khatt Book Launch

From casual scribbles, to elaborate murals, Egypt is awash with Arabic calligraphy, be it on mosques, homes, cars or even tuk-tuks. With fascinating new book, ‘Khatt’, co-authors Basma Hamdy and Noha Zayed, travelled the span of Egypt’s cities and villages for three years to put together a stunning visual documentation of a classical style of typography that has not only endured the test of time, but has also taken on new forms and meanings.

Video by MO4 Network

“Calligraphy is a form of art born in Egypt, and the heart of Egypt is Downtown Cairo,” Hamdy says of the book’s fitting launch at Downtown’s Kodak Passageway, where a sprawling exhibition of some of the book’s most dazzling images were curated to provide unique insight into a timeless art.

To get your hands on a copy, head to khattegypt.com

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