KOCHI: To Lamees Aboobacker, Arabic is the most beautiful script in the world. She is on a mission to popularise the language among a larger crowd in Kerala. Born and brought up in Abu Dhabi, it was in last December that Lamees moved to her home town in Thrissur.Though she was always inclined to art and calligraphy, it was only in June, during the lockdown that she thought of exploring it. “My father is an Arabic graduate. I felt connected to calligraphy from the very beginning, reinforced by its rich history in the Quran,” said Lamees, a self-taught calligraphy artist.
“While doing Arabic calligraphy, I follow the traditional style,” she said. Explaining about the fonts she works with, Lamees says, “Thuluth and Kufic are the two fonts that I normally use, which are mostly preferred by my customers. Fonts like Muhaqaq, Naskh and Thuluth are interlinked and follow curved and oblique lines. However, Kufic is more of block lettering,” says the artist. Besides Arabic calligraphy, Lamees also does free hand lettering and brush lettering in English. From bookmarks containing prayers from the Holy Quran to frameworks done in Arabic language, Lamees’ work will catch your eye even if you are not familiar with the language.
This calligraphy artist is currently doing an online Arabic calligraphy course under the tutelage of Salim Khan, a self-taught Arabic calligrapher specialising in Thuluth script in Arabic calligraphy. Lamees uses special, handmade pens for her writings.
“ What I love about Arabic calligraphy is how hard it is to get it accurate. In English, we have 26 letters and there is only one way to write it. But in Arabic language, one letter has 12 formations which makes it challenging. You need passion to go forward,” she says. To write a small piece of calligraphy, she takes several hours. With background colours, it might take even a day to complete.Her customised products in Arabic and English calligraphy are available on the Instagram handle @La.Artisium.