Letters… City

Arabic calligraphy is distinguished by its fluid forms, rhythmic movement, and intricate visual structures. Throughout its long history, it has existed beyond the function of writing, becoming a visual language in which meaning and beauty coexist. While ordinary writing communicates thoughts and information, calligraphy transforms language into an image — making the letter itself a space for aesthetic and cultural expression.

The history of Arabic writing has passed through many stages of development. In its earliest forms, Arabic script was written without dots or diacritical marks. Yet the early, undotted form of the script continues to hold a particular visual and conceptual power. Its ambiguity allows the letter to move away from a fixed linguistic meaning and become an open visual form.

Colours and Letters… Mean Homeland — In this project, I return to this early form of Arabic writing. I write and photograph Arabic letters without dots, inspired by the way they were written centuries ago. Without the dots that determine their exact identity, the letters become open to interpretation. Each viewer can read them according to their own imagination, experience, and memory.

The letters then leave the page and enter the city. They merge with crowded streets, buildings, faces, bodies, gestures, and everyday details. Through photography, the letter becomes part of the urban landscape, while the city itself begins to resemble a text — one continuously written, erased, and rewritten by the people who inhabit it.

For me, the letter is not simply a unit of language. It is a trace of history, a fragment of memory, and a visual body. With Sarhan, the story becomes a letter, and the letter becomes a story. The letter becomes the city, and the city becomes a text.