The aim of this thesis is to highlight the relevance of the spiritual dimension of Islamic calligraphy, focusing on the Turkish contemporary calligraphic tradition. Academic literature in the field has been dominated by the tendency to focus on the objects produced by artists, neglecting their personal experience and understanding of the art. Using a phenomenological perspective, I give voice to calligraphers I met in Istanbul and Konya, letting emerge their views on issues related to the relationship between art, religion and spirituality. I explore several themes that have arisen from the interviews I conducted with fifteen exponents of the contemporary tradition, organised as a journey from the most material aspects to the most abstract ones. The exploration of these themes starts with the symbolism hidden behind physical calligraphic tools, moving to the analysis of the symbolism of the point and the letters, elementary forms of the calligraphic creations. The bodily dimension has been taken into consideration, showing how the control of the body is an essential aspect of the calligraphic practice. The art can be conceived as a pathway requiring the development of several moral qualities and virtues, all necessary to improve both the artistic capabilities and the spiritual maturity of the practitioner, until the achievement of the authorisation to teach the art. Once a calligrapher reaches the license and the mastery of the art, they bear the responsibility of transmitting the art to others. Furthermore, they become agents of remembrance, portraying in the most beautiful manners the verses of the Quran in social religious spaces, as in mosques, or on calligraphic panels acquired by individual collectors or museums. Since their artwork focuses on representing religious materials, including the remembrance of the attributes of God and of Prophet Muhammad, their art is considered an act of worship. Finally, I investigate what the meaning of Divine Beauty is in Islamic calligraphy, presenting the perspectives of Turkish calligraphers and analysing the connections between the artistic form and the meaning of the contents of specific calligraphic works. In conclusion, I have not limited my analysis to the formal aspects of the art, rather I have highlighted the existential dimension of a complex practice which connects together several aspects of the human being, including the spiritual dimension. Thus, the traditional stream of Turkish contemporary calligraphy can be seen as a full manifestation of a culture, a lifestyle and a religion.
The calligrapher of the midnight – inspected
The Town of Tecumseh is going to make it easier for contractors, developers and anyone else to apply for a building permit.
The town has launched an new e-permitting software system called Cloudpermit to process all building permit applications.
The Cloudpermit building permit system is a program designed to streamline the application process.
It allows residents, builders, and businesses to apply for and see the status of an application, inspection requests, and approvals from anywhere, at any time.
Tecumseh Chief Building Official, Peter Valore, says this is important to get with the times.
“This industry does demand modernization, efficiency,” he says. “People do like the ability of working from a cellphone where you can book your inspection online, you can receive updates online. You can communicate with the building department if these’s any questions or issues with the submitted plans or application.”
Valore says this will allow them to work with the system while they’re in the field as opposed to doing hand written notes, coming back in the office, uploading them and doing traditional paperwork.
He says this will also allow town staff to respond in real time.
“If there’s a deficiency in the field, the inspector can send a message to the contractor saying ‘hey, I noted this here.’ That could lead to a quicker turn around where the contractor gets the message and the inspector has the ability to swing back around. They made the correction and hopefully move that project forward,” he says.
Valore adds they will still be available to assist town residents, especially those seeking a permit for a smaller project, when it comes to the navigating the permitting process.
A link to the new e-permitting system can be found on the Town of Tecumseh website.
The town of Essex adopted a similar e-permitting system in early October.
News
I have awarded myself the lofty status of ‘guest runner’ in the City rat race this week. The annual IAPS Heads’ Conference this year is taking place in the QEII Centre in London, which has meant that Thursday and Friday have seen me swap my stroll across the Cathedral Green for the delights of the Jubilee Line. I find that the addition of a takeaway coffee (in my reusable flask – my New Year’s resolution is still going strong) and the lure of a free pre-thumbed copy of the Metro does little to offset the frustration of watching an additional 50,000 people try (and succeed) to squeeze into your already-over-stuffed carriage. As a point or order, let it be noted that we who live in Devon are a lucky lot.
The tube always fascinates me. I had a pre-children Sunday singing job in Hampstead for a few years which meant that I became fairly well acquainted with the Northern Line, and I always enjoyed people-watching (or rather, people-wondering): being back on the (heaving, hot and – yesterday – broken-down) tube over the last two days has caused me to ask the same question that I did back then – why do these people put themselves through this (often thoroughly unpleasant) journey each day?
It strikes me that the answer to my question lies within our list of ECS Habits. The tube-goers keep going with their journeys, even when face-to-face with frustration, over-heating, and other people’s armpits, because they are honouring their commitments. They have a job to get to, a meeting to be at, or someone expecting them – each of them has made a commitment and here they are taking the necessary steps (or perhaps the requisite escalators) to honour it.
Honouring your commitments is one of our core ECS Habits and that’s because it’s something we consider to be really important. Our pupils and teachers are busy people and they are pulled in a number of different directions, and it would be easy every now and again to let something slide and to just not bother. But we don’t do that, and that’s because of our joint commitment to do what we say we’re going to do. I’ve written before about the fundamental importance of developing the ‘soft skills’ (much though I object to the terminology) and of a school’s responsibility to teach the whole child and to promote the development of character: instilling in children the need to honour commitments is a key piece in that mission. Honouring our commitments: that’s why some of our rugby boys will be turning out tomorrow to play a touring West Buckland side; that’s why our Choristers arrive early and leave late day-in day-out – including on Easter Day and Christmas Day; that’s why the midnight oil gets burned during report-writing season; that’s why we persuade our tired and grumpy children to get out of bed on a cold November morning and to come to School – because it’s a commitment we’ve made.
When last year’s Head of School Felix W left Year 8 in July, he told me that he was looking forward to going to the Edinburgh Festival for the first time. I explained to him that he would likely be bombarded by leaflets and flyers if he walked the Royal Mile, and flippantly challenged him to collect as many as he could. He replied that he would go one better; that he would get hold of one of every flyer on the mile. Then we went our separate ways and I thought no more about it. Two weeks into this term, Bea W in Year 8 (Felix’s sister) presented me with a heavily-stuffed A4 envelope. When I opened it up, hundreds and hundreds of brightly-coloured A5 flyers cascaded onto my desk along with a note which read: ‘Dear Sir, I collected all of the flyers – I thought I’d post them all to you. I hope you like them.’. Felix had made a commitment and, in honouring it, he also managed to get one over on his old Headmaster – a masterful move, and proof that our ECS Habits live on in our alumni.
For all of the School commitments that you will honour over the term ahead; for all of the times that you will go the extra mile to support ECS; and for the on-going vital partnership between home and School that you will help us to foster – thank you.
