It is like forging a stronger bond among citizens of the two countries," said, Ali Alammari, an Arabic
caligraphic artist from Saudi Arabia who is participating in the exhibition.
The title refers to a
caligraphic line that circles around the piece with strokes radiating from it; it speaks to the interconnectedness of all things.
Titled '
Caligraphic Abstraction', the inaugural show has been curated by artist and art historian Iftikhar Dadi who has collected works from Shemza's early to late career that demonstrate his contribution to - and investigation of - the role of calligraphy within Modernism in Pakistan and the UK.
The book includes a few examples of this zoomorphic calligraphy, such as the "
caligraphic tiger" (sic) on the dedicatory page.
The rippling pale-blue and browned-wheat surface of Black Mulch/Storm suggests a pool into which a curtain of dark
caligraphic marks fall like driving rain.