# Hurufiyya Calligraphic Modernism

> A pan-Arab and Iranian modern-art movement, begun by Madiha Omar in the late 1940s, that freed the letters of the Arabic script from text and used them as abstract visual units. Artists of Baghdad's One Dimension Group, the Khartoum School and Iran's calligraphic painters fused Kufic, Thuluth and Nastaʿlīq with modernist abstraction, and the approach migrated into book covers, posters, logotypes and contemporary Arabic type.

- Period: 1949–present
- Where: Middle East & North Africa
- Origin: Baghdad, Khartoum, Beirut, Tehran and the Arab diaspora
- Branch: Rational modernism
- Also known as: Hurufiyya, al-Hurufiyya, Calligraphic abstraction, Arab Letterism
- Page: https://stylogeny.com/styles/hurufiyya/

## Use it with care

Arabic letters often carry Qur'anic verses, the names of God or the Prophet and devotional formulas; never use sacred text as decoration on floors, footwear or disposable items, and verify the meaning of every word you set. Credit or collaborate with Arabic-script calligraphers and type designers rather than imitating the script without understanding it.

## How it works

- Treat individual Arabic letters as abstract forms (strokes, loops, dots) rather than as words to be read.
- Build the composition from repeated, overlapping or fragmented letterforms that create rhythm and texture.
- Combine the proportions of a classical script (Kufic, Thuluth, Nastaʿlīq) with modernist abstraction, gesture and colour fields.
- Let legibility dissolve deliberately, but keep the ductus and stroke logic of the script recognisable.
- Work on earth, ink or indigo grounds with a few saturated accents rather than full illuminated polychrome.

## Its design choices

Defining choices make the style, characteristic ones are usual, occasional ones turn up now and then.

### Layout & composition
- [All-over field](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/all-over-field/) (characteristic)
- [Organic flow](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/organic-flow/) (characteristic)
- [Radial & concentric](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/radial-and-concentric/) (occasional)
- [Collage & layering](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/collage-and-layering/) (occasional)

### Space & hierarchy
- [Repetition & rhythm](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/repetition-and-rhythm/) (defining)
- [Horror vacui](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/horror-vacui/) (characteristic)
- [Visual tension](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/visual-tension/) (occasional)

### Typography
- [Brush & pen calligraphy](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/brush-and-pen-calligraphy/) (defining)
- [Experimental & distorted](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/experimental-and-distorted/) (characteristic)
- [Hand-lettering](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/hand-lettering/) (characteristic)
- [Type as image](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/type-as-image/) (characteristic)

### Colour
- [Earth & mineral](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/earth-and-mineral/) (characteristic)
- [Dark ground](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/dark-ground/) (characteristic)
- [Analogous harmony](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/analogous-harmony/) (characteristic)
- [Limited spot colours](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/limited-spot-colours/) (occasional)
- [Jewel & metallic](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/jewel-and-metallic/) (occasional)

### Form & shape
- [Non-representational](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/non-representational/) (defining)
- [Biomorphic curves](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/biomorphic-curves/) (characteristic)
- [Angular & zigzag](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/angular-and-zigzag/) (occasional)

### Surface & texture
- [Painterly brushwork](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/painterly-brushwork/) (characteristic)
- [Paper & letterpress bite](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/paper-and-letterpress-bite/) (characteristic)

### Ornament
- [Folk & sacred symbols](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/folk-and-sacred-symbols/) (characteristic)
- [Geometric tessellation](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/geometric-tessellation/) (occasional)

### Imagery
- [Painterly illustration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/painterly-illustration/) (characteristic)
- [Typography only](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/typography-only/) (characteristic)
- [Pattern & repeat](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/pattern-and-repeat/) (occasional)

### Medium & production
- [Hand-painted](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/hand-painted/) (defining)
- [Pen, brush & ink](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/pen-brush-and-ink/) (characteristic)
- [Screen printing](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/screen-printing/) (occasional)

### Tone & intent
- [Spiritual & sacred](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/spiritual-and-sacred/) (defining)
- [Calm & contemplative](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/calm-and-contemplative/) (characteristic)
- [Utopian & idealistic](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/utopian-and-idealistic/) (occasional)

Avoids: Grotesque & neo-grotesque, Geometric sans, Modular grid, Straight photography, Gloss & highlights, Ironic & self-aware

Palette: #e9dcc0, #2a211b, #8b3a1e, #1f3a5f, #c89b3c

Typefaces: Kufic (square and floriated), Thuluth, Nastaʿlīq, Diwani, Maghribi

Known for: Madiha Omar (Iraq; calligraphic abstractions exhibited in Washington, 1949); Shakir Hassan Al Said and the One Dimension Group (al-Bu'd al-Wahid, Baghdad, 1971); Ibrahim El-Salahi and Ahmed Shibrain (Khartoum School, from 1960); Hossein Zenderoudi (Iran); Dia Azzawi (Iraq); Kamal Boullata (Palestine); Rachid Koraïchi (Algeria); Nja Mahdaoui (Tunisia)

## Where it comes from, and what it’s close to

- Grew out of: [Islamic Geometric & Calligraphic Tradition](https://stylogeny.com/styles/islamic-geometric.md) (c. 690–present)
- Led to: [Cairo–Beirut Arab Modernist Book & Periodical Design](https://stylogeny.com/styles/cairo-beirut-book-design.md) (1952–1990)
- Alike in its design choices: [Western Desert Iconography](https://stylogeny.com/styles/western-desert-iconography.md) (1971–present), 57% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Batik Pattern Tradition](https://stylogeny.com/styles/batik.md) (1600–present), 53% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Kōwhaiwhai & Toi Māori Design](https://stylogeny.com/styles/maori-kowhaiwhai.md) (1500–present), 53% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Arnhem Land Bark Painting & Rarrk](https://stylogeny.com/styles/arnhem-land-bark-painting.md) (1912–present), 52% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Bògòlanfini Mud Cloth](https://stylogeny.com/styles/bogolanfini.md) (1900–present), 51% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Arabic Calligraffiti](https://stylogeny.com/styles/arabic-calligraffiti.md) (2002–present), 50% alike

## Real works

- [Without You or Me or the Nostalgic Hallucination](https://www.barjeelartfoundation.org/collection/without-you-or-me-or-the-nostalgic-hallucination/): Rachid Koraïchi, 1986, Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah
- [Calligraphic Compositions](https://www.barjeelartfoundation.org/collection/calligraphic-compositions-ahmad-shibrain/): Ahmad Shibrain, c. 1960s, Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah
- [The Alif and the Ya](https://www.barjeelartfoundation.org/collection/kamal-boullata-the-alif-and-the-ya/): Kamal Boullata, 1983, Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah
- [Parchment 1](https://www.barjeelartfoundation.org/collection/nja-mahdaoui-parchment-1/): Nja Mahdaoui, 2005, Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah
- [K+L+32+H+4. Mon père et moi (My Father and I)](https://www.moma.org/collection/works/36253): Charles Hossein Zenderoudi, 1962, The Museum of Modern Art, New York (317.1962)

## Sources

- Venetia Porter, Word into Art: Artists of the Modern Middle East (British Museum, 2006)
- Tate, 'Khartoum School' (https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/k/khartoum-school)
- Barjeel Art Foundation, Hurufiyya: Art & Identity (Bibliotheca Alexandrina, 2017)

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From Stylogeny (https://stylogeny.com/), an atlas of graphic-design styles by Van Riel Online Services. How it is made: https://stylogeny.com/about/. Cite as: Stylogeny, “Hurufiyya Calligraphic Modernism”, https://stylogeny.com/styles/hurufiyya/