First shown in New Yorks reed space gallery, Letters of Love is a modern interpretation of one of Islams highest art forms. Instead of painting traditional Quranic expressions, Shawkat, an Iraqi artist renowned among collectors, often uses Arabic translations of more modern quotations. His exhibition, letters of love, includes paintings of the words love is the only freedom in the world by the Lebanese poet Khalil Gibran or a loving heart can handle the world by Beethoven. The combination of tradition and modernity has created an inspired collection of beautiful artworks which will resonate with many audiences. Nabil F Safwat, an Islamic calligraphy specialist, wrote in the programme to Mr. Shawkats New York exhibition: in his recent works, we can clearly detect classical scripts such as Thulth, Kufic and Diwani, yet in his new forms and compositions he pushes ahead with his quest for achieving a stimulating transformation of the calligraphy of the Arabic letters.
