Customer Reviews

Breath of Words: The Arabic Calligraphy of Abd el Malik Nounouhi 2010 Wall Calendar

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The frustrating search for a wall calendar with consistently high quality images led me to Amber Lotus Publishing for the second year in a row. I usually buy photography calendars, but I was so taken with the work of Abd el Malik Nounouhi when I saw it, that I decided that Arabic calligraphy was the way to go. Not an obvious leap, but Nounouhi's calligraphic art is stunning. He is a Moroccan artist who lives and exhibits in France. You can see many beautiful examples of his work on his web site, which I visited in an effort to find out if his calligraphy is religious-themed. It seems that none of his calligraphy is explicitly religious, but he favors universalist, philosophical quotations. Some are from religious figures of various faiths, while others are entirely secular.

Nounouhi uses quotations from all over the world and incorporates a variety of styles of art in his calligraphy. The quotations that have been rendered in Arabic calligraphy in this calendar are from: Ibn Ata Allah al-Iskandari (Sufi sheikh and writer), Spinoza, Saint Teresa of Avila, Ibn Arabi (Sufi mystic), Khalil Gibran, Buddha, and from the artist's own poetry. Nouhouhi's palette includes fiery reds and oranges, blues, browns, and one piece in black and grays. English translations are featured prominently, right next to the calligraphy. I might have preferred that the translation be more discreet, at the bottom of the page, so as not to detract from the artwork. But at least no one will have to hunt for the translation.

The background color for all the artwork and for the calendar itself is off-white, made to look textured like parchment. The calendar's squares have plenty of space to write in, though the date is at the center top of each square, opposed to the usual top corner. It has a lot of holidays labeled: Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, and Buddhist religious holidays, plus major American holidays, bank holidays, and major foreign holidays, especially for Canada and Mexico. The quality of the paper is very good for an inexpensive calendar, as I have found to be typical of Amber Lotus. But that means that the paper is slick and not as easy to write on as lower-quality paper would be. Interior pages are recycled paper, printed with soy-based inks.