Why Calligraphic Walls Endure: Language, Material, and Memory in Interior Art
Walls have never been inert surfaces. Since the prehistoric caves to the imperial buildings, societies have always believed in the walls, and believed that whatever they felt was important enough to endure. The ancient man painted on stone the animals and rituals. The ancient societies inscribed laws, names and beliefs onto the buildings. Walls were used long before the advent of framed art as a type of cultural record. This historical instinct is why the use of written forms on walls (not illustrative imagery in isolation alone) still seem rooted and permanent in contemporary interiors. Arabic wall art in this lineage has a unique and historically consistent place. Why Civilisations Chose Walls for Language Early writing systems could not be separated out of architecture. The Sumerian cuneiform and Egyptian hieroglyphs and the early Chinese inscriptions were frequently inscribed on stone walls, columns, or civic buildings. This was deliberate. Walls provided visibility, stability...