Calligraphy - the art of beautiful writing --- is the quintessential visual art form of the Islamic world. The need to communicate the word of God beautifully and nobly in the Arabic script inspired Muslim scribes to transform the written word into a transcendent vehicle for visual expression.

This exhibition will feature approximately seventy exceptional works of Islamic calligraphy from Ottoman Turkey, dating from the fifteenth to the early twentieth century from Ottoman Turkey. These works illustrate the brilliant development of this art form over five centuries with examples by its greatest masters. They are drawn

Related Events - All in 1999

Exhibition Opening
Thursday, October 7
8–11 p.m.
$30 for Friends; $40 for guests; black tie.
Friends will receive an invitation in the mail.

Symposium:
Art, Empire, and Tradition: The Ottoman Achievement
Friday, October 8

Concert:
Classical Turkish Music
Sunday, December 5
The EurAsia Ensemble
Paine Hall, 3 Kirkland Street, at 7:30 p.m. Free admission

Studio Workshops:
Rhythms of the Pen: Studio Workshop on Islamic Calligraphy
Sunday, October 24, 1–4 p.m
Registration required. Please call (617) 495 - 4544.

Floating Colors: Studio Workshop on Paper Marbling
Sunday, November 14, 2–4 p.m.
Registration required. Please call (617) 495 - 4544.

Gallery Talks:
Sunday, October 17, 2 p.m.
Saturday, December 18, 11:30 a.m.
, Ph.D. candidate, Department of History of Art and Architecture

Saturday, November 13, 2 p.m.
Mary McWilliams, Norma Jean Calderwood Associate Curator of Islamic and Later Indian Art

Saturday, December 4, 11:30 a.m.
Zeynep Yürekli, Ph.D. candidate, Department of History of Art and Architecture

Co-organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Letters in Goldis accompanied by an illustrated catalogue published by the Metropolitan and written by , a leading Turkish scholar and calligrapher. The exhibition is made possible by Sabanc1 Holding/Akbank, Istanbul, Turkey and is organized at the Harvard University Art Museums by Mary McWilliams, Norma Jean Calderwood Associate Curator of Islamic and Later Indian Art.