Calligraphy is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "the art of giving form to signs in an expressive, harmonious, and skillful manner".
Japanese calligraphy also called shūji (習字) is a form of calligraphy, or artistic writing, of the Japanese language. For a long time, the most esteemed calligrapher in Japan had been Wang Xizhi, a Chinese calligrapher from the 4th century, but after the invention of Hiragana and Katakana, the Japanese unique syllabaries, the distinctive Japanese writing system developed and calligraphers produced styles intrinsic to Japan. The term shodō is of Chinese origin as it is widely used to describe the art of Chinese calligraphy during the medieval Tang dynasty.
Hassan Massoudy, born in 1944, is an Iraqi painter and calligrapher, considered by the French writer Michel Tournier as the "greatest living Calligrapher", currently lives in Paris. His work has influenced a generation of calligraffiti artists.
Sheikh Hamdullah (1436–1520), born in Amasya, Ottoman Empire, was a master of Islamic calligraphy.
The Society of Scribes & Illuminators is an organisation dedicated to the promotion and development of the arts of calligraphy and illumination.
David Lance Goines is an American artist, calligrapher, typographer, printing entrepreneur, and author. He was born in Grants Pass, Oregon, the oldest of eight children. His father was a civil engineer and his mother a calligrapher and artist.
Osman Waqialla, was a 20th century Sudanese painter and calligrapher, noted for his creative use of Arabic letter forms in his artworks, thereby integrating African and Islamic cultural traditions into the contemporary art of Sudan. This use of Arabic calligraphy as a modern, non-religious graphic form places Waquialla within the Arabic art movement that became known as the Hurufiyya movement.
Towhidi Tabari is an Iranian artist.
Augustin François Guille, called Archiguille was a French painter.
Hâfiz Osman (1642–1698) was an Ottoman calligrapher noted for improving the script and for developing a layout template for the hilye which became the classical approach to page design.
The Contemporary Museum of Calligraphy, dedicated to the art of calligraphy, is situated in Sokolniki Park, Moscow. The museum collection features calligraphy masterpieces from 65 countries. The concept was elaborated by Sokolniki Exhibition and Convention Centre and the National Union of Calligraphers.
Qorban Ali Ajalli Vaseq is a master calligrapher, painter, poet and educator, noted for founding the "Gol Gasht" style of calligraphy, characterised by a dense and interlocking play of the Arabic script, a distinctive style now regularly used by Arab and Iranian calligraphers in artworks.
Mehmed Shevki Efendi was a prominent Ottoman calligrapher. He is known for his Thuluth-Naskh works, and his style developed into the Shevki Mektebi school, which many contemporary calligraphers in the style take as a reference.
Hsu Yung Chin was a Taiwanese artist and calligrapher. Originally known for traditional Chinese calligraphy, in the 1990s he began to gain renown for his postmodernist calligraphy and ink paintings.
Soraya Syed Sanders is an English classically trained Islamic calligrapher and artist. She uses classical Arabic calligraphy with new technologies such as holography, placing a traditional art-form into contemporary context.
David Annwn, also known as David Annwn Jones, is an Anglo-Welsh poet, critic, teacher, playwright, and magic lanternist.
Wen C. Fong was a Chinese-American historian of East Asian art. He was the Edwards S. Sanford Professor of Art History at Princeton University, where he taught Chinese art history for 45 years. In 1959 he co-founded the first doctoral program in Chinese art and archaeology in the United States, which was later expanded to include Japan. He served as chairman of Princeton's Department of Art and Archaeology, and as consultative chairman for Asian art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
Hans-Joachim Burgert (1928–2009) was a calligrapher, sculptor, and educator.
Mouneer Al-Shaarani is a Syrian graphic artist specialized in Arabic calligraphy. Al-Shaarani is known as calligrapher, graphic designer and author of articles about Arabic calligraphy and Arab Islamic art. He has designed several Arabic typefaces for book covers or other graphic creations. His work has been exhibited in several Arab countries, Malaysia, Europe, Australia and the United States and is internationally presented in collections of contemporary Arabic art. Between 1985 and 2007, he lived and worked in Cairo, Egypt, and later returned to live in Damascus.
Kōji Kakinuma is a Japanese calligrapher.
