Bringing People Together through Art with Salma Arastu

American Muslim Project

This week we speak with Salma Arastu, an artist born in Rajasthan, India, to Sindhi Hindu Pakistani refugees. Introduced to Arabic calligraphy in Iran, she found herself mesmerized before able to even read it. By the 1980s, the merging of traditional calligraphy and modern art that she’d embarked upon had a name: the Hurufiyya Movement. It was only after September 11th that she began to share her calligraphy publicly, to spread the beauty of the Quran and bring people closer to Islam.

She walks us through the popularity of calligraphy in Islam, and her passion for the concept of conveying a story through a beautiful, continuous line. She details her very physical process (often involving three pieces at a time), influences, and reception amongst different communities. In addition to her calligraphy, Salma’s found success with mixed media, paintings, laser-cut metal sculptures, and poetry. Regardless of the medium she works from the heart, letting the energy take control and trying to convey joy, peace, and human connection. Not wanting to be labeled a specific kind of artist, or religion for that matter, she believes the message and appeal of her works are universal.

Listening to Salma speak, we’re not surprised that she makes art to uplift others. One gets the feeling when listening to her that she has a lot to teach about life, gratitude, and humility. She speaks of challenges she’s faced—such as being born without fingers on her left hand or her family’s resistance to her conversion to Islam—as if they are blessings. Frankly she makes us miss our grandma.

You can find out more about Salma on her site or follow her here. Check out her new book of paintings inspired by the themes of ecological consciousness and interspecies dependence found in the Quran. Learn more about some of her favorite artists, Shahzia Sikander, Paul Klee, and Wassily Kandinsky. Last but not least, take her advice to draw—even doodle—to open your mind and heart.

American Muslim Project is a production of Rifelion, LLC.

Writer and Researcher: Lindsy Gamble

Show Edited by Mark Annotto and Asad Butt

Music by Simon Hutchinson

Hosted by Asad Butt

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