Sculptor, ceramicist, painter, and spiritualist, Rachid Koraïchi has had a five-decade, internationally recognised career. Algerian by birth, raised in Tunisia, and now based between Tunisia and Paris, his work has appeared in major collections and biennials around the world. Yet this season marks a significant first: a major solo exhibition at Sharjah Art Foundation.

The Taskhent Qur’an – also known as the Samarkand Kufic Qur’an is one of the oldest surviving Qur’an manuscripts in existence. The large lettering, where only a few words populate an entire page, is written in an early version of the kufic script and dates back to the eighth century. About one third of the original manuscript is housed in the Hast-Imam Library in Tashkent, Uzbekistan but one page, in immaculate condition is currently on show at the Museum of Islamic Civilisation in Sharjah. It is a key part of Sacred Words, Timeless Calligraphy: Highlights of Exceptional Calligraphy from the Hamid Jafar Qur’an Collection displaying some of the world’s finest examples of Qur’an manuscripts and Islamic calligraphy owned by Hamid Jafar. Jafar is the founder and chairman of Sharjah-based Crescent Group of companies and he began collecting the rare manuscripts more than 40 years ago.

In this interview with master calligrapher Samir Sayegh, he talks about liberating the form from meaning and searching for new aspects to make it fresh and contemporary.

Wissam Shawkat is a calligrapher who straddles the gap between the ancient and the contemporary. His work looks out on two fronts and his abstract and minimal pieces are the result of a life long relationship with the letters themselves.