Alibaba Awrang: Didar
Language is at the core of a universal human desire for shared understanding, and the handwritten word can create a profound connection. Beautiful script carries additional weight in Islam, where carefully rendered transcriptions form a tangible connection between the visual and spiritual worlds.
Calligraphy means “beautiful writing,” and for over 1,400 years has been central to both Arabic religious and secular texts. Unique variations emerged out of different periods and regions; in mid-14th-century Iran, a style specific to Persian verse evolved. Nasta'līq calligraphy is distinguished by its sweeping, gestural curves paired with short, staccato vertical elements—visual forms that pair well with the rhythms of the spoken language.
Alibaba Awrang’s exhibition at Gallery Mack, March 28 to May 9, reveals entanglements with and expansions beyond these formal and functional foundations. Born in Ghazni Province, Afghanistan in 1972, Awrang studied and taught classical Islamic calligraphy for many years. In 2021, he and his family were evacuated by the U.S. State Department from Taliban-occupied Afghanistan. The works emerging after this relocation to Connecticut are physical manifestations of these complex existential layers.
In “Glory” and “Didar,” we see evidence of Awrang’s method, a collaged layering of gold and silver leaf, acrylic paint, and Japanese ink on canvas. The distinction between script and form is blurred, and lines that reveal characters (both Persian and Roman) simultaneously dissolve into pattern. Contemporary artist and calligrapher Pam Galvani observes that some of these letters appear embossed or applied to the surface, and come into the space. She notes that this kind of curiosity and exploration beyond the conventions of traditional calligraphy is also partly due to the rigorous training Awrang underwent: he knows what he is doing.
“Fall” further communicates Awrang’s intuitive fusion of the underpinnings of calligraphy with strong elements of color and form. The central gold circular focus conveys a concentrated energy that unfurls via the ribbon-like curves of the text that spin outward, suggesting a space beyond the edges of the canvas. Roman letters and numbers coexist in this plane, inviting additional interpretations, and possible conflicts. How does an artist who is freeing themselves from the literal constraints of text communicate through abstraction of letters when there’s a literal meaning embedded in these forms?
This question of sense-making is not a new one. What were the artists who left their marks in the Chauvet-Pont-d’Arc cave in France some 32,000 years ago communicating through their gestural lines? The way that some images seem to have been layered on top of each other has sparked wonder: were these seen as animated forms in the flickering light of the fat lamps illuminating these underground galleries? Awrang’s intersecting lines and forms conjure a similar illusion of movement and unresolved wonderings.
Awrang’s works also invite comparisonto Western artists who are exploring works that outside the limitations of text, such as Massimo Polello. Polello says of his own work, “…Letters become a means to exist outside myself…going beyond the letters, captured by the sole need to see. They become signs, images, evocations, urgent needs, emotions.” The connection to a world verging on the spiritual is apparent here too, in a redirection of the work from thinking to feeling.
As I am typing, a law has just been enacted that mandates cursive writing instruction for all elementary school students in Pennsylvania; this legislation acknowledges the cognitive benefits of writing by hand, cursive’s connection to cultural history, and its potential to develop critical thinking. It’s a contemporary example of the meaning and impact of handwritten script evolving over time. In a similar vein to linguist John McWhorter’s description of language as a parade, beautiful writing is another kind of moving, changing pageant that celebrates creativity.
In spite of this expansive perspective, it’s a very human condition to want to reach for clarity of meaning when we are challenged by the gray area of questions and conflicts. There seems to be an urgency these days to be certain, one way or another, and to act quickly. But there are skills to be developed that can help navigate unknowns, to make the parade enjoyable rather than rigid.
Looking slowly is one approach, and Awrang’s works are intriguing subjects for this exercise. Mimicking his process of layering and incising, observe the many elements at play: let your eyes encounter the color, the line, and the forms. His shifting poetry of words and visual culture both arise from and exceed the limits of human understanding.
Kristin L. Tollefson
Kristin L. Tollefson is an artist and educator based in Tacoma, Washington.
Alibaba Awrang’s exhibit, “Didar,” is on view March 28-May 9 at Gallery Mack, located at 2100 Western Avenue in Seattle, Washington, from Tuesday through Saturday,11 a.m. to 5 p.m. An Opening Reception is held on Saturday, March 28, at 1 p.m. For more information, visit www.GalleryMack.com.
