Al-Muzakharaf Al-Mo’aser

 It’s also a six-month program (from Nov 2019 to April 2020) in collaboration with Mamluk art house. That teaches Islamic patterns (geometrical and Flora) to 25 participants to be a professional designer able to combine Islamic patterns in their projects. They also make tours to museums and mosques to analyze the pattern in Its original environment.

Al-Muzakhrif Al-Moua’sir provided a valuable experience for artists who are passionate about learning Islamic Art especially the geometric patterns and floral ornaments and exploring practically its various uses. All sessions and workshops were delivered by the experts in the Department of Teaching and Educating at Al-Qalam School and at Mamluk Art House who followed and developed many effective teaching methods and strategies. 

Geometric Patterns:

It was presented by Eng. Mostafa Sedky, founder of Mamluk, who designed the curriculum of this course that was considered the first of its kind which covered and discussed, in greater detail, all the aspects and secrets of this Art, including, for example, but not limited, an introduction to Islamic Geometric Patterns, the main features of the Geometric Patterns, the most traditional methods and techniques used in Geometric Design, basic principles and concepts such as symmetry, repetition, the angles used in Islamic Geometric Design; in addition to the types of the star rosettes, the proportions that must be taken into account, how those star rosette patterns are constructed and how they are combined with the correct proportions. 

Floral Ornaments:

It was presented by Ahmed Salah Mahrous, Abd Allah Aboulfadl and Abdelrahman Aboulfadl. They discussed the basics and the types of floral ornaments, the shapes of leaves, the forms of the floral units and how to construct them. Furthermore, they analysed the constructive elements of the ornamental units, the dimensions and proportions of the floral ornaments, how to repeat and distribute the units, the types and shapes of floral and geometric borders, the principles and concepts of drawing floral ornaments, etc. 

Field Trips:

This program included many field trips for a purpose of research and observation. The students were accompanied by artists and academics. The places they visited were Mosque-Madrasa of Sultan Hassan (Mosque and school), Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad ibn Qalawun Mosque and School, Al-Rifa’i Mosque, The Mosque of ibn Tulun, the Museum of Islamic Art, The Egyptian National Library and Archives in Bab Al Khalq.

Lectures:

Many academics delivered lectures on Ornaments. They discussed the history and the evolution of the Ornaments, Mamluk approaches in Ornaments, the aesthetic values of Islamic Ornaments, the main ornamental elements in Islamic architecture and the decorative designs following the concepts of Visual Arts. 

Workshops:

The workshops covered: Islamic illumination, gold preparation, how to use Illustrator in floral ornaments, how to use AutoCAD in geometric patterns and how to use Laser Cutter/CNC.