Acknowledgements

Just as a piece of calligraphic art takes many people- ebru artists who make the paper, tehzib artists who illuminate the words, and the unseen chain of the artist’s teachers, this exhibition has been a labor of love that simply would not be possible without the efforts of many people.

Special thanks to Salman Malik who spent countless hours helping to make ideas into a reality. His creativity and technical expertise helped shaped the direction of this exhibition. Thank you also to our interns on this project: Fatima Tourk and Lailah Mozaffar. We are honored to have collaborated with The Walters Art Museum for this exhibition and, in particular, with Ashley Dimmig whose expertise added a vital component to the understanding of this art. Finally, much love and gratitude to all the artists who contributed to this endeavor.

This folio from Walters manuscript W.672 is a sheet of pen exercises (karalama) by Şeyh Hamdullah. Such pen exercises were commonly collected in albums. In their technique and design pattern, the borders of this page are comparable to ebru (marbled paper) made by Hatib Mehmed Efendi (died 1187 AH/AD 1773), a celebrated Ottoman artist.