Letters Beyond Letters | Echoes of Form

Wissam Shawkat

“These works are not meant to deliver a message, but to create a presence. They ask for silence, not explanation. They invite the viewer to pause, to see rather than to read, to feel rather than to interpret. They are invitations to listen to the echo of form, to recognise the letter beyond the letter" 

_ Wissam Shawkat, 2025

For more than a decade, Wissam Shawkat has been journeying deeper into the essence of the Arabic letter..beyond language, beyond sound, into pure visual presence_

What began in 2013 as an exploration of calligraphy’s inner structure has evolved into his distinctive practice of Calligraforms, a visual language where the letter is no longer written to be read, but shaped to be experienced_ In this exhibition, Shawkat continues that philosophy. Each work begins with the anatomy of a letter and ends in transformation - cut, rotated, layered, or distilled until only rhythm and breath remain_ The text dissolves into architecture with line, proportion, tension, and pause_ These are not messages to be decoded, but moments to be felt_ 

Letters Beyond Letters | Echoes of Form continues Shawkat’s dialogue between tradition and abstraction_ Rooted in the classical discipline of Thuluth yet elevated through the precision of engineering and the intuition of art, each piece balances restraint and resonance, a harmony between calculation and emotion, between what remains and what is erased_ 

A leading figure in contemporary Arabic calligraphy, Wissam Shawkat continues to expand his visual language of Calligraforms_ A practice that transforms the Arabic letter into pure form, rhythm, and balance. His annual 11/11 exhibitions have become a hallmark of quiet mastery and continual evolution_ 

The exhibition will launch on Tuesday 11/11 from 6 PM to 9 PM at Secret.Gallery, offering the opportunity to meet Wissam in person_

EXHIBITION: 11.11.2025 - 25.11.202