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Building on tradition: Iraqi labourer preserves calligraphic art
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Jamal Rassoul Hussein, a 50-year-old Iraqi, practises arabic calligraphy in his workshop in his home in the town of Rania, some 130km north of Suleymaniyah in the autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan region, on December 17, 2021. (AFP/Shwan Mohammed)
W
hen he is not hauling concrete blocks on a construction site in northern Iraq, Jamal Hussein devotes his time to preserving the gentle art of Arabic calligraphy.
Though he has won awards in numerous competitions, Hussein acknowledged that "you can't live on this", the artistic handwriting of Arabic script.
"I have a big family. I have to find other work," said the father of 11, who is 50 years old and earns his keep working on building sites in the Iraqi Kurdish town of Ranya.
Last week, the United Nations culture agency declared Arabic calligraphy an "Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity", following a campaign by 16 countries led by Saudi Arabia and including Iraq.
"The fluidity of Arabic script offers infinite possibilities, even within a single word, as letters can be stretched and transformed in numerous ways to create different motifs," UNESCO said on its website.
Abdelmajid Mahboub from the Saudi Heritage Preservation Society involved in the proposal to UNESCO said the number of specialised Arab calligraphic artists had dropped sharply.
Hussein is one of them, and he welcomed the UNESCO decision.
