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Words as Art

Faraz Khan is sharing his calligraphy and culture as the Arts Council of Princeton’s artist-in-residence
DATE POSTED: Wednesday, May 20, 2015 8:57 AM EDT
By Anthony StoeckertAs part of his residency with the Arts Council of Princeton, Faraz Khan demonstrated Arabic calligraphy to visitors at Communiversity.

 

As part of his residency with the Arts Council of Princeton, Faraz Khan demonstrated Arabic calligraphy to visitors at Communiversity.
The Arts Council of Princeton’s Anne Reeves Artist-in-Residence Program is, of course, about artists sharing their art, and teaching their art, to people in the Princeton area. But it’s also about sharing cultures and broadening the idea of what art is. Past artists who participated in the program have been painters and sculptors, writers, musicians, a flamenco dancer and a video installation artist.The arts council is continuing its tradition of bringing different art forms into the program with its current artist-in-residence, Faraz Khan. Mr. Khan, who lives in Franklin, is of Pakistani heritage and specializes in Arabic calligraphy. The residency is allowing Mr. Khan to share his art and his culture with people in the Princeton area.

”That’s the really the basis of what we do,” he says. “Beauty is appreciated in every culture, in every language, in every ethnicity, and in all people that we know. It’s something internal and I feel that if people see beauty in artwork, they are drawn towards it, if they hear a beautiful story they’re drawn towards it. This is what we have to share with one another in order to grow and be educated about who we are and what our destinies are as people.”

In his artist’s statement, Mr. Khan says his “technique embodies a collage of Arabic script and modern ideas, while utilizing ink and acrylics as his medium and vibrant nontraditional colors and calligraphy styles.” He adds that his work looks at contemporary themes in Islamic and modern art, and also focuses on “grassroots American-Islamic art movement.”

Mr. Khan has been teaching at the arts council for about two years. In developing events and programs for a residency, the arts council encourages artists to select things the community can participate in. Mr. Kahn will host two special events, on May 21 and June 26, and also hold a series of workshops.

   The May 21 event at the Paul Robeson Center for the Arts, will feature a discussion of “The Canticle of the Birds,” an illustrated manuscript of a Sufi epic poem in which all the birds of the world gather together to determine who should be their king. In the story, the birds have transcended from human souls. The program will feature Michael Barry, lecturer in near eastern studies at Princeton University. Mr. Kahn expects the program to appeal to people who are interested in stories and literary masterpieces.”’The Canticle of the Birds,’ or ‘The Conference of the Birds,’ another translation, is a classic story, a masterpiece, from the Persian literature,” Mr. Khan says. “It’s about 1,000 years old, and it talks about different birds with human characteristics. There’s jealously involved, there’s anger involved. There are birds that are thinking about opportunities and not thinking about others… It’s a beautiful story that teaches morals and lessons about how we become better people. It’s a masterpiece that not too many people know about, and I thought it would be great to share that with Princeton and show how diverse Princeton is.”

He says the event fits something he was told and believes about people from Princeton: that they are interested in the experiences of other people.

Another event is set for June 26, 1-8 p.m. when Mr. Khan will paint spines on books from a book case using acrylic paints and ink to write words in Arabic calligraphy on each book.

”I’m going to have a lot of fun with that one,” he says. “We’re going to have a live demonstration of art marking. My work basically involves a lot of Arabic calligraphy characters and lettering and design elements.”

The books he uses will be encyclopedia volumes, and the words he creates will result in a famous quote. He won’t share details of the quote, as that is part of the mystery.

”The painting will be done live and people will have a chance to talk to me,” Mr. Khan says. “It’s going to be a very easygoing atmosphere, so people can ask me questions.”

The residency also will include two workshops: An Arabic calligraphy workshop will be held Sunday, July 11, 1-3 p.m. at the Paul Robeson Center for the Arts. A calligraphy workshop is set for Aug, 20, 5:30 p.m. at the Princeton Shopping Center, beginning at 5:30 p.m.

Mr. Kahn says his goal with the workshops is not only share art and artistic expression, but the art of calligraphy as well. One thing he says he’s learned through events, such as the one he held at Communiversity, is that people love knowing how to write their names in different languages.

”The first half an hour or hour is talking about how words are put together and how letters are written… And then we kind of open it up to people and try to advise them on how to make words and put the ornamentation parts together, and go from there,” he says of the workshops. “It’s open to the public and most people are (surprised) in terms of the work that they do. You’ll be surprised at how people walk in with a little bit of hesitation, and perhaps fear, I don’t know, and they come home with something that they love.”

Mr. Khan’s residency also will include a light art calligraphy performance, Sept. 10 (time to be determined) on the Princeton Art Museum lawn.

The residency will culminate with the exhibit, “The Making of an American Script by Faraz Khan,” at the Taplin Gallery at the Paul Robeson Center for the Arts, Oct. 1-31.

The Arts Council of Princeton’s Paul Robeson Center for the Arts is located at 65 Witherspoon St., Princeton. For more information, go to www.artscouncilofprincetonor call 609-924-8777, ext. 110.

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ABOUT FARAZ KHAN

I express my intellectual longing for creative ideas through Islamic art by fusing colors, lines, dots, and words together to inspire a meaning worth imagining. My work explores universal values of love, life, faith, prayer, beauty, and divine that synthesizes feelings and pictograms through lettering.
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© 2024 Faraz Khan Art Studio.