Culture and heritage - First Symposium for Arab Calligraphs

The First Symposium for Arab Calligraphs was held in Beirut, from 11 till 14 July 2000 . It is one in the series of the cultural events Al Zaher conduct.

It primarily aimed at:
- Bringing together the arab calligraphs
- Stressing the modern artistic skills of both the Arab and Islamic worlds
- Emphasizing the importance as well as the beauty of the arab calligraphy.
- Calling on the responsibles in the fields of education, culture etc. to promote the use of the arab calligraphy in our modern life…

Closing recommendations sent by the arab calligraphs to the Arab Kings and Presidents at the end of the symposium :

The Calligraphs call for :

- Expanding the use of the arab calligraphy, i.e on boards, banners, logos, in palaces, homes, offices, shops, ministries …
- Creation of new jobs related to this art (calligraph of the kingdom, of the state, of the republic, calligraph of the ministry or district)
- Using arab calligraphy in addressing ministries, governmental printworks, invitation cards, school books and university books.
- Arab Calligraphs express concerns about the expanded use of foreign names instead of arab names. Arab Kings and Presidents are responsible for safeguarding and defending this important heritage.
- The introduction of technology will no doubt help in stressing the beauty of the arab calligraphy, by pinpointing the difference between computer used letters and those used by calligraphs.
The calligraphs are also ready to cooperate with the programmers and the designers for the creation of new letters.
- The Use of the arab calligraphy helps conserve the arab identity and encourages the youth to stick to their heritage and to be proud of it.