Ongoing
Mohamed Zakariya, Entreaty, 2017. Museum purchase, 2022.
Entreaty by Mohamed Zakariya is on view in Across Asia: Arts of Asia and the Islamic World.
This early 21st century short calligraphic artwork (kıta), was made by Mohamed Zakariya (American, born 1942) in the tradition first established by Şeyh Hamdullah (d. 1520) over 500 years ago. Zakariya not only continues to practice this historic artform, he also ensures its future by teaching a new generation of students from all over the world. This piece contains two lines of text in Arabic, translated as:
I ask the forgiveness of God for my stumbles and for my sins
and for what I neglected and for what I did too much of.
The content of the passage, as well as the script, marbled paper (ebru), and illumination are all executed by Mohamed, in historical styles that recall an album of Şeyh Hamdullah on view in the gallery alongside Zakariya’s work. The Walters holds one of only three signed works by the master calligrapher in the United States. Bringing together this historic album and Mohamed’s contemporary work—both highlights of the Walters collection—demonstrates the local resonances of this global artform.
Since the founding of Islam, the art of fine writing, or calligraphy, has been the vehicle for religion, philosophy, and poetry in Islamic culture, clothing ideas in an ever-changing beauty that made the texts more available, memorable, and even detectable to the viewer. The finest works of artists working in classical, Arabic, Persian, Ottoman Turkish, and Urdu are so outstanding that as a youngster I found them simply awesome. I first encountered these works over 60 years ago, when I first began practicing calligraphy. For me, the art has proven to be an inexhaustible source of inspiration, experimentation, and challenge as I think about how it all fits within the mosaic of our American culture. Now, as a calligraphy teacher, I share calligraphy with students of all backgrounds, ensuring that this art form can be inspiring for generations to come.
Across Asia: Arts of Asia and the Islamic World was curated by Ani Proser, Chief Curator and Curator of Asian Art; Dany Chan, Associate Curator of Asian Art; and Ashley Dimmig, Guest Curator and former Wieler-Mellon Postdoctoral Curatorial Fellow in Islamic Art.