About persian calligraphy with Thomas Steinbach

Thomas distinctly remembers being twelve years old and coming across a package of pistachios from Iran with Arabic script on the back. Entranced by its beauty, he spent the afternoon copying the lettering. Thomas then continued to study, explore, and play with different alphabets and typography. His university studies finally led him to Persian calligraphy which by now he has been practising for over 16 years.

As a university student nearly having completed his degree in European History, Thomas had an opportunity to travel to Central Asia. Here he experienced contact with a mysticism he had not previously known. He then interrupted his conventional degree and started all over with an in depth study of Islamic and pre-Islamic beliefs. The focus of his new studies was the 12th century Sheikh Ahmad Yassawy who combined shamanism with Muslim traditions.

Sufism has played an intimate role in Thomas’ work with calligraphy in that he writes exclusively Sufi poems. “I always recognize something about my own experience in the poetry", says Thomas, “I am drawn to the emotional and intellectual depth I find there. But then again, I also love puns and poems that seem to have no depth or look like pure nonsense!" One of his favorite lines from Rumi is a string of melodic, rhythmic - seemingly nonsense - syllables that hint to the Sufi zikr, i.e. the meditational repeating of God's names.

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Author: Gabrielle Smith-Dluhá

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