KABUL (SW) – A number of calligraphy art teachers in Kabul say that the interest of young people in this art has decreased in the last two years compared to the previous years.
According to them, no calligraphy exhibition has been held in Kabul in the last two years. Habib al-Rahman, a calligraphy art teacher in Kabul, told Salam Watandar that the number of students in his educational center has decreased from 1000 students to 200 students only. This calligraphy teacher added: “I have been working for seven years, the situation has deteriorated, the number of students has decreased. In the past years, we had 1000 students, but now we have 200 students.”
Sabour Wahidi, another calligraphy teacher who has been teaching this art field for 20 years, said that the Ministry of Information and Culture has not paid attention to this art in the past two years. He wants the officials of this ministry to organize art exhibitions to develop the art of calligraphy and increase the interest of students in this art. Wahidi added: “There has been no special attention in the last two years, with all the facilities that the Ministry of Information and Culture had, at least an exhibition should have been held. The problems of artists should be seen, the environment should be favorable for them to display their works.”
Abdul Wais Azizi, one of the calligraphers, told SW that during the Republic period, calligraphy exhibitions were held every year, but with the arrival of the Islamic Emirate, no exhibition has been held. He also complained about the neglect of the art of calligraphy and said that in the past, festivals were held in the provinces and artists’ works were exhibited there.
Students of calligraphy art want the Islamic Emirate to expand this art by establishing educational centers and support the artists of this field. Heela, one of the calligraphy art students, said that women are very interested in the art of calligraphy and the government should cooperate with them in this field. He added: “The art of calligraphy is declining in the current situation. The passion and interest of women in this art is much more, more attention should be paid to this art and educational centers should be created for us.”
We tried to include the views of the officials of the Ministry of Information and Culture in this report, but we did not succeed with our efforts.
Meanwhile, Mohammad Osman Almas, the director of publications at the Technical and Vocational Education Department, told Salam Watandar that it has decided to hold the first Islamic calligraphy festival in the near future. He added: “Soon, we will hold the first big festival of Islamic calligraphy. All the students of the Institute of Fine Arts of the Technical and Vocational Education Department and those who work in this department can participate in this, and a prize has been planned for the 10 people who get the highest grades.”
ENDS
