Istanbul_ The Collected Traveler_ An Inspired Companion Guide - Barrie Kerper [210]
Calligraphers were the most revered of all artisans, and perhaps the most wonderful part of the Asia Society show was a film by American-born master calligrapher Mohamed Zakariya. Not only was it utterly fascinating to watch Zakariya at work, his life story is equally so. As Esin Atıl (introduced on page 46) relates in Mohamed Zakariya, Islamic Calligrapher (published on the occasion of an exhibit of the same name at the Bellevue Arts Museum, Washington) tells it, she first met Zakariya in 1972, when she was working as a curator at the Freer Gallery of Islamic Art. He showed up without an appointment and asked to look at some of the most precious holdings of the Freer Gallery. Zakariya was then a “quiet, slender young man with shoulder-length blond hair, attired like a Californian flower child of the 1960s,” and Atıl was intrigued that he’d scribbled down a few accession numbers obtained from the Freer’s file cards, so she felt obliged to show him a few works. Upon showing him the first folio, she was immediately impressed with the way his eyes lit up: “Not even the most ardent student of Islamic art had ever responded this way.” She then proceeded to show him everything on his list. Eight years later, Atıl’s assistant announced a visitor, and in walked a clean-shaven young man wearing a three-piece suit carrying a portfolio under his arm. Only after Zakariya reminded her of their previous meeting did she recognize him. In the intervening years, Zakariya converted to Islam and began teaching himself Arabic. During a trip to Morocco he met his first teacher, an Egyptian calligrapher, and a few years later, after Esin Atıl sent samples of his work to the Research Center for Islamic History, Art and Culture in Istanbul, he began a correspondence course, studying under master calligrapher Hasan Çelebi. In 1979, Zakariya’s The Calligraphy of Islam was published (Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, Georgetown University), and it is regarded as the first contemporary book by an Islamic calligrapher about his work in a language other than Arabic. In “The World of Mohamed Zakariya” (Saudi Aramco World, 1992), Heath W. Lowry (introduced on page 440) was quoted as saying it was inevitable that Zakariya’s work “would begin pointing him more and more in the direction of Istanbul. The role of the Turks as the last great calligraphers is and continues to be recognized throughout the Islamic world.” On May 23, 1988, Zakariya was the first American to receive an icazet (diploma) from the Research Center in Istanbul, a tradition that dates back to the fifteenth century.
In the Topkapı Palace collection there is a calligraphic album by Sheikh Hamdullah as well as a beautifully written copy of the Koran. Other places to see gorgeous calligraphy in Istanbul are at the Calligraphy Museum (Hat Sanatları Müzesi, Beyazit Square), which displays Korans, writing materials, bookbinding samples, imperial seals, diplomas, holy relics, and miniatures from the Ottoman and Seljuk periods; the Sakıp Sabancı Museum (Istinye Caddesi 22, Emirgan), which holds a wide range of examples spanning five hundred years, including rare handwritten copies of the Koran, framed inscriptions, hilyes (descriptions of the Prophet), fermans (imperial decrees), and berats (imperial appointments); and the Sadberk Hanım Museum (Büyükdere Piyasa Caddesi 27-29, Sarıyer), which has a very small but stunning selection.
Lastly, you must stop by and visit Nick Merdenyan in the Grand Bazaar. Nick embroiders beautiful Islamic, Jewish, and Christian calligraphic designs on dried leaves. He