Wissam Shawkat on Calligraphy, Van Cleef & Arpels, and His Largest Solo Show

Calligrapher Wissam Shawkat created a masterwork for Van Cleef & Arpels' Perlée collection and Eid al-Fitr, blending traditional materials with contemporary design. The piece features circular shapes inspired by spherical beads, with the phrase "Let harmony bring us together to enlighten our lives" in his signature al Wissam style, developed since 2004. Shawkat used handmade paper coated with alum, egg whites, and starch, along with handmade pigment inks. The collaboration began in November 2024 through Tashkeel, where Shawkat has been a member since 2009 and which also partners with Van Cleef & Arpels on the Middle East Emergent Designer Prize. Shawkat's solo exhibition "Back to Basics: Wissam Shawkat A Calligraphic Journey" at Mestaria Gallery in Alserkal Avenue features 81 original artworks and a catalogue, tracing his evolution from practice sheets to classic calligraphy to his latest "calligraforms" merging calligraphy with Western abstract art. He notes that calligraphy is the region's artistic identity, rooted in Islam and the Qur'an, and has grown as a contemporary art form since the 1960s, now thriving due to internet accessibility.