Photography by Haajar Gouverneur
Calligraphy
by Mohamed Zakariya
Foreword by Khaled Azzam
Dar
Nun/Aperture 1998 ISBN 0-89381-817-8 Hardcover
Full Color Photography Throughout 96 pp./80 color images $29.95
This
impressive volume contains photographs by Haajar Gouverneur of a
magnificent variety of doors found throughout the four regions of
the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. These photographs were exhibited at
the Nahda Society's Heritage Center in Riyadh in 1995. Each
photograph is accompanied by a beautiful calligraphic
presentation of a hadith or Quranic passage by the renown
calligrapher Mohamad Zakariya. The book is bilingual.
In Islam the significance of the door is evident as a metaphor
for the entrance. Written passages refer to its many levels of
meaning for both the Qur'an and the Hadith, the recorded sayings
of the Prophet Muhammad.
The greatest doors in the Kingdom are those which open onto the
Sacred Precincts-the door to the Ka'bah in Makkah, and the doors
to the Mosque in al Madinah where the Prophet is buried. These
magnificent entrances belong to the Muslim world.
The Kingdom is unique in that it contains the full range of
doorways, from the Heavenly to the Human. The doors to the Sacred
Sanctuaries symbolize entrance into peace and a higher state of
being. Besides these celestial doors which refer to the Gates of
Paradise, we present the doors of this world, from the homes of
both the rich and the poor, with the hope of offering a sense of
our heritage-its faith, culture, craft, and calligraphy.
Please press here if you would like to view the pictures alone
To order a copy please fill out your details on the online order form
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