In the hurley burley of our day to day lives, a small oasis of peace and contemplation was created by Spiritual Tree, who invited a world renowned calligrapher, Efdaluddin Kilic from Turkey to Bradford to conduct calligraphy classes.

This quiet unassuming man sat with his students and instructed them individually on how best to improve their calligraphic techniques, while at the same time showing the techniques and traditions of the masters of old, which are being kept alive by the calligraphers of today.

When you first start talking to him, you do not get a measure of the depth of his knowledge. He is not loud and brash and does not have the air of some hoity toity artists of today, which sadly includes some Muslim Artists. Slowly he reveals that he is the living, breathing continuation of the chain of masters and students, that has developed through the history of Islam, that has primarily sought to glorify the name of Allah Subbuhanah wa ta ‘ala, through the decorative written word.

When I asked him what first got him interested in this spiritual art, he said that it was by pure chance that through his father’s contacts he was taken under the wing of the Calligrapher Huscei Subasu. He then went to learn under the Master Hasan Celabi, but still considers himself as still studying.

Allah gives a gift to someone, like the gift of learning Hifz Quran, where there has to be the intention as well as the talent of being able to memorise. When becoming a calligrapher, there has to be the intention to learn, as well as the artistic nature or talent.

For a calligrapher to work in the traditional sense permission has to be given, as calligraphy is a science. In addition, permission is given to the student who is not only good in letter, but also a good member of the community.

A master should not teach a student bad habits. Each letter is carefully constructed according to nib widths and heights and each script has its own set of rules.

Br Efdaluddin is one of the primary artists in the calligraphy exhibition at Cartwright Hall Art Gallery in Bradford, along with another master calligrapher Haji Noor Din, from China.

Br Efdaluddin’s pieces range from the traditional to the ultra modern and along with the other work on display the exhibition is worth a look.

Nilesh Mistry, curator of the exhibition, said “The exhibition is a culmination of 15 years of work by the gallery collecting examples of pieces of islamic art from around the world and has been part of a touring exhibition around the Northern region.”