Egyptian cities and villages abound with an enormous wealth of khatt, or calligraphic script, ranging from casual scrawls
and scribbles to elaborately-painted colourful murals. These historical and contemporary versions of urban lettering,
varying in surface, medium and technique, adorn mosques, shop-fronts, houses, trucks, boats, schools, tuk-tuks and
walls.
They are records of human existence, documenting expressions of hope, fears, dreams and anxieties.
Featuring beautiful and unique examples of these written expressions, Khatt is an extensive visual documentation
of the found typography and calligraphy in Egypt, a calligraphy hub that possesses a rich tradition of education
and production in the field. This timely volume records the traditional craftsmanship of hand-painted calligraphy, which
is fast disappearing because of the digitization of the Arabic script.
Khatt
