Art Opening: Alibaba Awrang

On Exhibit: June 2 - July 18

"Life is Beautiful" - Contemporary Calligraphy Works

Artist Statement: 

Calligraphic practice can be defined as the art of giving form to signs and sounds in an expressive, harmonious, and balanced manner. For centuries, Persian calligraphy served as a mirror for mystical and literary teachings. In my work, I present a new artistic reality – by crossing the border of the “long-standing tradition of calligraphy. Linking calligraphy with painting, I reconstruct the past and bring it into the present.”

While I have a deep understanding of traditional calligraphy and how it was done in the past, I take a bold new approach with the aim of enriching the art to make it more contemporary. My works reflect both a continuation of and a transition from a long-standing calligraphic tradition. In other words, my calligraphic works are rooted in the past while opening the window to future horizons.

The graphic and aesthetic aspects of calligraphy are hugely important for me. My calligraphy works are important not because of their linkage to religious teachings and Islamic literature, nor because of their belonging to Islamic mysticism. Their uniqueness is derived from my attempt to cross the boundaries of tradition by the combination of script and painting. 

My work is distinguished from much other calligraphy by my use of handmade paper, paste paper, traditional ink, natural colors. The use of gold and silver leaf and good material composition make an artwork more stable and durable for hundreds of years to come. 

I see my work as a window half open to a world full of possibilities. I strongly believe that such efforts will elevate the art of calligraphy while ensuring the revival of the artform to the importance it has enjoyed over the past fourteen hundred years.

About the Artist: 

The paintings of recently relocated artist Alibaba Awrang masterfully fuse Persian calligraphic depictions of poetry with brightly colored images, resulting in contemporary illuminated paintings.

His work is well known in the Eastern world, with exhibitions in Kabul, Tehran, Bahrain, Dubai, Istanbul, Islam Abad, Tajikistan and Melbourne, among others. His recent commission of a large triptych was installed in the fall of 2022 in the entry gallery of the I. M. Pei designed Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar. At the pinnacle of his career, Awrang evacuated from Afghanistan in 2021, and is relaunching his career from his new home in Connecticut.

His work was featured in two prominent exhibitions in Connecticut: a sold-out show, From Kabul to Connecticut, in November, 2022, at the Judy Black Memorial Park and Gardens in Litchfield County; and a September-November 2023 show, Between the Worlds: Stories of Artists and Migrations, co-curated by the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the Munson-Williams Proctor Arts Institute, and the Mattatuck Museum, at the Mattatuck in Waterbury.

“While my work is rooted in ancient tradition, it is a new kind of Islamic art,” explains Awrang, “striving to open a new horizon by connecting the past, present and future through the prism of postmodernism. I depart from tradition by combining both script and painting. In every maze of my calligraphic work, there is mystery; and in every turn and twist of its colors, I reflect the human condition.”