KARACHI: An exhibition of calligraphic works in siah mashq by Shahabdullah Alamee based on the Persian poetry of Mirza Abdul Qadir Bedil opened at the Koel Art Gallery on Thursday evening.

The title of the show is Inshae Tahayyur taken from the 18th century poet`s line `Bedil sakhunast neest juz inshae tahayyur`, which has been translated as Bedil your poetry is nothing except the oeuvre of perplexity`.

It is an interesting concept, because both Bedil and calligraphy are terribly under-discussed topics in art circles. To boot, the siah mashq technique, in which words swarm the page, enlivens the whole exercise as Persian letters swish and swirl around the paperin poeticfrenzy.

This can be immediately felt by viewing the second artwork `A teardrop on the edge of an eye-lash` (black ink on the handmade double ply Rajasthani paper).

The verse on which it is based has a melancholic overtone and Alamee`s interpretation visually adds to it by making the letters move swiftly, like teardrops inthe rain, without diluting what the contentis conveying.

Alamee`s versatility as an artist and understanding of poetry comes to the fore in a piece called `Qurban-e-tau bashad`, because it is not easy to draw an image inscript of a piece of poetry that talks of sacriñce in an intense moment of despair. The artist has managed to create a scene that gives the artwork a cloven look, not in the broken sense mind you, which highlights the intenseaspect of the verse to the hilt.

In terms of visual opulence, it is the exhibit `From vision to perplexity` that impresses the most.

The denseness of the strokes lends certain heaviness to the artwork -heaviness that can by anapt synonym for the philosophical profundity in Bedil`s poetry.

Syed Shahabdullah Alamee, a graduate of the National College of Arts, belongs to the ethnic minority of Hazaras and is now based in Lahore. He was presentat the gallery on the exhibition`s inaugural day to explain the genesis of his work and the siah mashq technique.

Inshae Tahayyur, curated by Hast-o-Neest, will remain open until April 2.