Can we blend Traditional Arabic Art and Modern Art?

We caught up with Artist Razwan Ul-Haq on a cutting edge project, bringing traditional Arabic Art techniques and Modern Painting techniques together.

 

Mo:

How did this project start?

 

Razwan:

Well, it all began sometime in Spring when I attended an Arts Council seminar.  They wanted to support new things – and the great thing was that you could do new experimental things.  It got me thinking of new projects.

 

Mo:

So how did you go about it?

 

Razwan:

Normally I work in schools and in those settings everything is laid out for you.  But this was going to be different, I needed to work with a partner who could provide space, but also who would be just as excited as I was about the project.

 

Mo:

That’s how you ended up working with Manningham Housing Association?

 

Razwan:

Indeed! They saw straight away what we wanted to do and we got cracking with a core team of three to spearhead the project.

 

Mo:

What was the philosophy behind the project?

 

Razwan:

I wanted to blend traditional Arabic Art techniques with Modern Art.  We wanted the participants to have ownership of the project and so threw in every medium conceivable, from Indian ink, dip pens, Bamboo pens, Acrylic Ink, Pastels, Chalk, Acrylic Paint on Canvas to working with porcelain tiles.

 

Mo:

Would you like to share some of the highlights?

 

Razwan:

 

The starting point was the colourful truck Art from Pakistan, India and Bangladesh

 

 

 

 

I began by introducing traditional calligraphy, using Indian ink, dip pens, bamboo pens and really getting to grips with the Art of the Pen.

 

 

 

 

You can see how some of the youngsters really got into it!

But we wanted to do something new and fresh.  We looked at Modern Art, Minimalism and Pop Art.  The children were drawn to Mondrian and it was his "Broadway Boogie Woogie that we ultimately chose as inspiration for our giant mural!

We also visited the Hepworth Art Gallery in Wakefield.  It's a great depository of modern Art.  After that visit, I showed the students my Artwork, which was in display in a private gallery:

For their final pieces, we let children be creative.  This one below, is one created by four Artists using Kufic inspired angular script that has the letters "m" "n" "m":

Finally, our tile has been laid and this is it!  Quite prominent in the residential area and you can see the chimney of Drummond Mills, the famous Bradford landmark, so we are all pleased with it!  By the way the Artwork is entitled "Broadway Boogie Woogie" and the Arabic word spells out "Salaam" which means "Peace" in Arabic.  The word was designed by one the children and we all had a go at filling in the tiles. 

 

 

 

Mo:

If any teachers or Artists want to do something similar, what would you recommend.

 

 

Razwan:

 

The first port of call would be the Arts Council, and they have lots of information on their website:

 

www.artscouncil.org.uk

 

Mo:

 

Will there be teaching resources for schools to download if they want to do a similar activity?

 

Razwan:

 

Yes, sure.  They are on the schools section of my website:

 

www.ulhaq.com

 

Oh one more thing, the official opening of the mosaic is on the 15th December so if anyone wants to come down, drop me and e-mail and I can send directions.

 

Mo:

Thank you for your time.