Watch ... a young Jordanian woman volunteers Arabic letters with jewelry

Humam Al-Asas - Oman

The twenty-year-old Razan Basem Al-Qatana in the Jordanian capital, Amman, has been reviving the Arabic language in her own way, as she transformed the letters into jewelry, practically embodying her celebration of the Arabic Language Day which falls on the eighteenth of December every year.

Basim recounts the beginning of her passion for letters for Al-Jazeera Net with her frequent visits to her grandfather's house and watching the letters decorating his walls, where she finds her uncle calligrapher, saying, "I was attracted by phrases such as basmala and the word of majesty, which made her memorize me, when I grew up I studied architecture, I felt that I attached to the colors and the shape of the letters."

She adds that the letters look more like a magnet that pulls them to the signs and the form of hanging lines in the streets, especially handicrafts, which prompted her to inquire about them, and she found answers to her questions during her study of the history of buildings in her specialty, as she went through her journey by exploring architectural spaces such as those in airports and streets.

Basim stresses that what motivated her to make decorative jewelry in Arabic was the habit of people to see the same lines in books and the fronts of restaurants and clothing, which I feel is consumed, so some people hated the language in general, "This prompted me to design letters in my own way, with an architectural character, and I employ them in the jewelry field to excel More and keep its value. "

The beginnings
Razan felt fear at the beginning of her idea, as she consulted those close to her and her teachers who had studied Arabic calligraphy, then presented the first group of her designs through social media, "I was afraid because the method is new and relates to jewelry, but the reaction of people was beautiful, and most of those who ask me for my work Their background is similar to my background in that they are engineers and designers associated with the Arabic letter. "

She points to the lack of fonts used by the Arab world on websites or designs used in fashion, compared to Latin, which appears to be more prevalent and abundant, and says, "Sometimes I feel that the language is oppressed, as people are ashamed to speak it. We Arabs should have more pride in our language, There are a lot of terms that are only in it, if we replace the English words with Arabic we will show them their aesthetic. "

How it works
Bassem talks about the influence of music on her work, as her love for theater in general and expressive dance in particular prompted her to imagine letters as a musical group trying to merge with each other to extract phrases and words, "I start drawing on paper to better control its modification, then I turn to the computer to draw it accurately and then send it to the player" .

"I first worked in Dubai and then moved to the Jordanian capital, Amman, and I applied for the European Union grant that I got, and it helped me in how to deal with customers and how to start my" Harmony "project which means harmony represented in life around us such as the football team or the human body or Nature and shapes. "

Razan made her harmony between the Arabic letter and the geometrical figures in her first group, while the second focused on poetic verses of Mahmoud Darwish, Al-Hallaj and others, saying "I link them with musical instruments and transform them into jewelry pieces, and in the future I would like to link them to technology, and I am currently working on research on linking jewelry to the medical field, where People can make use of it functionally as well as being an aesthetic component. "

Technology and language
Basem believes that technology does not affect the Arabic language if the projects are properly studied, because a large number of people use Arabic by showing them in a beautiful way that revives the character, and "this comes in the field of fashion and fashion, there are a lot of foreigners asking for Arabic letters, if we work correctly We can connect it to be global. "

The engineer participated in exhibitions and competitions in Al-Aden and outside, and her first participation was in an exhibition in Sharjah in the Emirates concerned with designs inspired by elements found in Islamic civilization, such as engineering shapes found in mosques and Islamic buildings.

She participated in the exhibition with designs inspired by prayer, and made of mosaic paintings, then she participated in a workshop where she learned how to make mosaics, created a mural and set up an exhibition in more than one place, such as Turkey and Italy, in which more than 10 designers participated.

And continues that she also participated in the competition in 2017 held for the first time in the Arab world, which is "the best one hundred Arab posters" held by the German University in Cairo, where "I was one of the winning posters in the competition."

Basim expresses her dissatisfaction with the fact that the Day of the Arabic Language is limited to his presence in the "calendar", as many people do not know anything about it, "I hope that there will be more light on him, such as workshops or posts from multiple sides, such as schools and universities, and I hope to participate in these the activities".