With her innovative designs, Joumana Medlej represents a modern and exciting development in the world of calligraphy. She delves back into calligraphy’s roots and pulls them into the future
The New School
Medlej spent years studying Kufi, the
oldest calligraphic form of Arabic script,
in an apprenticeship in Beirut with
Samir Sayegh, one of the most famous
names in contemporary calligraphy.
“He used to say to me ‘for the past 800
years nothing new has happened in
calligraphy, it’s just repeating old stuff’
and he has been trying to bring it back
to life,” says Medlej.
Contrary to popular belief, calligraphy
did not begin as the highly regulated
art form that it is today, governed by
Islam and strict rules. It was Ibn Muqla,
an early notable Persian official of the
Abbasid Caliphate dynasty and notable
calligrapher circa 900AD, who created
the rules that determined calligraphy,
as we now know it. “The rules came
much later; there were 300 years of
just experimenting with the form. The
freedom and creativity was incredible,”
says Medlej.
Sayegh encourages his students to
go back to the early principals of the
script and approach the art form with
the original freedom that calligraphers
once had. Studying under him is a vastly
different experience than under more
traditional calligraphers that often
take a more rule-based approach. The
study of calligraphy often translates to
following and mastering the traditional
method which Medlej describes as
“patient imitation…you just repeat old
forms forever and ever, there is not room
for much creativity in the traditional
approach.”
Medlej has certainly adopted the
contemporary approach of embracing
the letter and trying to understand it.
She doesn’t have a form or style, “in each
piece the script invents itself,” and while
she uses a traditional medium and
Arabic letters she attempts to express
contemporary concepts. For Medlej,
Arabic script offers greater depth
than Latin letters, with the form itself
designed to appeal to the eye and speak
to you on another level, rather than just
existing as a functional representation
of speech.
Moving forwards
Yet, despite being one of the brightest
names in the Lebanese calligraphy
scene, Medlej left Beirut for London
a year ago. “There isn’t a big market
for it in Lebanon,” she says. “There is
also a lack of resources. I can’t find the
materials I need [in Beirut], it’s just a
complete dead end.”
Medlej feels there is more potential
and appreciation for her work in the
West. “There is a real interest for
Arabic calligraphy in London,” she says,
noting the irony and tragedy in the
lack of support within the art form’s
regional origins. In Cairo, the interest in
calligraphy is greater than in Lebanon,
Islamic calligraphy can be studied at the
American University of Cairo, though it’s
taught through the lens of traditional
Islamic calligraphy. For Medlej, who is
working on an evolution of the form,
this is not an option; “you are breaking
a tradition. It is [considered] borderline
blasphemous. You run into trouble if you
do something new.”
Medlej is about to begin teaching a
calligraphy course at The Arab British
Centre in London, which promotes Arab
arts and culture in Britain. In keeping
with her work, the course will encourage
the participants to look to the roots of
calligraphy. Her method is her own, born
of years of experience as a calligrapher
and her own extensive research.
While the interest in Medlej’s work is
growing in London, there are only a
handful of calligraphers working on its
contemporary form in Lebanon, leaving
the future for this ancient art uncertain.
Purchas Medlej’s work at majnouna.com
TYPOGRAPHY:
NADINE CHAHINE
As digital culture evolves, along with the field of graphic design, Arabic typography – the art of designing letters to be used in print – has flourished over the last decade. Lebanese type designer, Nadine Chahine is something of a pioneer within Arabic typography. She has had a considerable output in the field, creating the award winning Gebran2005 typeface. It’s named after Gebran Tueni, the former editor and publisher of the Lebanese newspaper, An-Nahar. Gebran2005 is a modern version of a classic, newspaper headline style. Chahine described the typeface as having a “distinctive, self-assured presence, just like Gebran.”