“99 names of God” by celebrated calligraphy artist Sabah Arbilli on display at Katara Building 18.
Doha: It has been 20 years since acclaimed calligraphy master artist Sabah Arbilli mounted his first exhibition in Iraq. On Saturday, he opened a special solo exhibition to mark this milestone.
Known to many in Qatar for his monumental stainless steel calligraphic sculpture on Doha Corniche, the British-Iraqi artist is currently showing a rich collection of recent works comprising paintings, sculptures and mixed media art at Katara Cultural Village.
Arbilli has been a widely recognised artist in the field of calligraphy having exhibited his calligraphy-based artworks in many countries around the world, and his current exhibition is a testament of his success.
The exhibition sprawls both galleries of Building 18 with series of art pieces both on classical and modern calligraphic art. One of the artworks on display is a digital art mix media work titled “99 names of God” comprising 100 separate frames in unique colours and styles.
“Identity” is a painstaking calligraphic artwork which is a complete visual feast with the intricate calligraphy arranged to resemble the shape of a person’s thumbprint. Coincidentally, this year marks 20 years since Arbilli first created artworks based on the letter “Waaw” so he made four artworks with different designs but using the same letter, all of which are on show at the exhibition.
Spread throughout the gallery are over a dozen calligraphic sculptures some painted in black while others in red all in his signature style similar to what he used on the Corniche sculpture.
Unveiled in 2013, Arbilli’s sculpture on the Corniche used calligraphy in the form of individual Arabic letters put together to create a verse from a popular poem of Qatar’s founder Sheikh Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani.
Titled “Happy Zone,” the exhibition is an invitation to viewers to experience the artist’s idea of personal happiness.
“I am fortunate to be in practice as an artist for 20 years. It’s always easy for me to escape from pressure and sadness in life to switch off completely from outside world and enter the zone which is more related to me, more my conversations in my zone from me to myself, where I can create dialogue with an audience through the beauty of art. This exhibition consists of artworks which invite you to my zone,” said Arbilli.
The exhibition was launched by Saif Al Dosari, HR Director at Katara, and was attended by other officials and members of Doha’s art community.
The show is open to the public until May 15 at Katara Building 18.
