Saher Al-Kabi; Demonstration of Patriotism in Palestine with Calligraphy
One of such artists is Palestinian calligrapher Saher al-Kabi who shouts his patriotism emotions with his beautiful calligraphy works.
The Palestinian artist’s works show his constant pursuit on the path of Arabic calligraphy to enhance his skills, innovate and experience. His works cannot be categorized in the framework of traditional and imitative arts. He always tries to create new works and showcase the relations among words and lines in Arabic calligraphy.
Saher uses various art tools and calligraphy methods and has been inspired by religious and sacred texts, Arabic culture and literature and the Palestinian oral heritage. His works include calligraphy of the verses of the Quran, Hadiths of the Holy Prophet (PBUH), and Arabic and Palestinian poetry.
In one of his works, he has calligraphed verses of a famous poem by Imam al-Shafi’i. The style he uses is the old Muraqqa style, which includes a series of attached calligraphy and painting works.
Among his other works is a calligraphy of poems written by Emirati poet Saqr bin Sultan Al Qasimi in praise of Palestine and Palestinian people.
In his calligraphy art, Saher also uses national symbols of Palestine. He has frequently calligraphed poems by Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish with themes like patriotism, identity, language, land and homeland.
In one of his works about Palestine, he has devoted a major section to the work to the word motherland, and this boost the viewer’s understanding of the concepts of motherland and language as two fundamental elements of identity.
Color also has an important place in his works. For example in Mahmoud Darwish’s poem, he has calligraphed the word land with black ink and other words with red ink.
