Yunus Emre InstituteYunus Emre Institute London hosted fascinating talk as part of the Arts & Culture Lecture series with Professor Ćazim Hadžimejlić on his noted book “40 Bosnian and Herzegovinian Mushafs” on Thursday, 12th of January at 7 PM.
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The event moderated by the art consultant and ebru artist Dilara Karaağaç, started with a talk by the Professor Ćazim Hadžimejlić. In this talk, Ćazim Hadžimejlić delved into the history of lavishly decorated Qur’an manuscripts and talked about the rich beauty of this cultural heritage. The talk showcased centuries-old mushafs, handwritten copies of the Islamic holy book, the Quran, along with several other printed versions.
Giving the audience highlights from his book, Ćazim Hadžimejlić briefly touched on how the written words have always had a special place in Islam and how the Holy Book, The Qur’an, has always been an endless source of inspiration for artists. Touching on this point, he mentioned that the art of decorating the mushaf i.e., the Qur’an manuscripts arose from a love for God’s word, and examples of it can be found all over the world, that is, wherever Islamic culture and civilization have spread.
During the second part of the talk professor Hadžimejlić gave examples to the beautifully decorated mushafs housed by numerous institutions, libraries, and museums around the world. He mentioned that Bosnia and Herzegovina inherits the tradition of copying and decorating the mushafs, which is testified by manuscripts in domestic and foreign collections. Mushaf as a book has a central place in the Islamic civilization and is considered as the best representative of the book arts.
This special book,as mentioned by as Ćazim Hadžimejlić presents the preserved treasure, the art of decorating the mushaf, through the most beautiful mushafs in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The 40 mushafs that are represented in this special monograph are selected as a result of detailed work and based on their cultural, historical and artistic values. Each manuscript has been carefully aesthetically, codicologically, and palaeographically processed.
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This bilingual monograph, in Bosnian and English, has been substantiated by rich literature, first class sources, and numerous photographs to introduce the masterpieces of the arts of the book in the Islamic world to its readers. The scientific monograph, which is the result of many years of dedicated work and research and includes both public and private collections, brings an immensely important work to light.
The talk was attended by scholars, collectors and book experts from all around London and was followed by a highly engaging Q&A session that was moderated by Dilara Karaağaç and a book signing by Ćazim Hadžimejlić.
For more information on the event, please visit our website: https://yeelondon.org.uk/ or email us at londra@yee.org.tr.
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About the Author:
Professor Dr Ćazim Hadžimejlić is a lecturer in Conservation and Restoration, Book Arts and Calligraphy at the Department of Conservation and Restoration of the Academy of Fine Arts of the University of Sarajevo.
Throughout his studies, he has specialised in the fields of book arts including bookbinding and book restoration and conservation at Marmara University and Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, where he was also a lecturer at the Department of Book Arts, Conservation and Restoration, and at IRCICA (Research Centre for Islamic History, Art and Culture). He has also specialised in Talik and Rika Calligraphy styles under the supervision of Professor Dr Ali Alparslan, and in Sülüs / Thuluth and Nesih /Naskh Calligraphy styles under the supervision of master calligrapher Hasan Çelebi.
Professor Hadžimejlić is also a lecturer in Calligraphy at the Department of Arabic language and Literature of the University of Zenica. Professor Hadžimejlić has held solo exhibitions, participated in collective exhibitions worldwide and given talks at numerous international conferences where he has presented academic articles on book arts.
For more information on the event please visit our website: https://yeelondon.org.uk/ or email at londra@yee.org.tr