Events at Reed

The Douglas F. Cooley Memorial Art Gallery is proud to present Qalam, Calligraphy and Islam from the Middle Ages to the Present, an exhibition of historical Arabic calligraphy and related material that offers an immersive glance into one of the world’s most poetic and spiritual art forms. The earliest qur’anic verses (96:1-5) that refer to God as the Creator who teaches “by the pen”—al-qalam—as well as ancient Middle Eastern proverbs such as, “Purity of writing is purity of the soul,” speak to the esteemed place of calligraphy in Islamicate cultures. The development of Arabic calligraphy, from its earliest linear forms in the eighth century, to its subsequent standardization as a set of cursive scripts by a lineage of master typographers and calligraphers, evidences the complex and shifting status of text and image throughout this history. The works in Qalam elucidate this from a variety of perspectives. At the center of the exhibition is a group of rare works on loan to the Cooley from the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, and a diverse array of manuscript folios from the collection of Reed alumnus Steven Herold ’63. Qalam includes qur’anic and secular folios from the ninth through the nineteenth centuries; Persian and Iranian illuminations depicting stories of love and mystical revelation; a Qing Dynasty (1644–1911) incense burner with Arabic inscriptions; traditional writing implements and materials; a documentary film of American Islamic calligrapher Mohammed Zakariya; and a body of contemporary calligraphy by noted Iranian calligrapher and scholar Hamidreza Ghelichkhani. In conjunction with the exhibition, Dr. Ghelichkhani comes to Reed College as a visiting scholar (see listing on April 1 for his public lecture). Qalam is curated by Kambiz Ghaneabassiri, Reed professor of religion and humanities, and Stephanie Snyder, John and Anne Hauberg Curator and Director, Douglas F. Cooley Memorial Art Gallery. [Image: Page from a Qur'an manuscript, approx. 800–1000 CE. Iraq, Iran, or Syria. Ink and colors on parchment. Gift of Elton L. Puffer, 2004.61.A-.B. © Asian Art Museum, San Francisco. Used by permission.]