Calligraphy and fine arts in Oman

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As seafarers, the Omanis were in active dialogue with other cultures for thousands of years. In doing so, they developed the ability to integrate elements of these other cultures into their own art without losing their own identity. From this experience, the Omanis are developing their own path to modern art in harmony with Islam.

Free visual arts have only begun to develop in Oman in recent decades. There is currently no academic training. Most artists are employed and practise their creative activities in their free time. However, cultural centres such as the Omani Society for Fine Arts and the Photographic Society offer interested parties space, material, workshops and exchange with like-minded people. For a few years now, a certain art scene and a market for art have been developing in the country.
If you look at the works of artists such as Hassan Meer and Madny Al-Bakri, who have earned themselves a national reputation, it is striking that they have developed a special flair for reinterpreting the mysticism and spirituality of their own culture with the techniques and methods of contemporary art and thus keeping it alive. Calligraphy has a special place here. The pictorial space becomes a poetic colour space in which literary meanings appear or disappear again as free »arabesques«.