Arab American Heritage Month takes place in April, honoring the diverse traditions, backgrounds and faiths of the Arab community.
In Chicago, the leaders at the Field Museum have worked to create a month filled with events honoring the history of Arab Americans.
“There is a huge Arab community in the Chicagoland area so we’re very excited to celebrate it with our community and also use this as an opportunity to educate people who are not as familiar with Arab culture about our traditions,” said Serena Merhebi, Marketing Coordinator at the Field Museum.
Over 100,000 Arab Americans reside in the Chicago metropolitan area, representing about 90% of all Arab Americans in Illinois, according to the U.S. census.
Merhebi said the museum hopes to highlight the different aspects of Arab culture in the Chicago community — one of which is the beauty of calligraphy.
“Calligraphy is intertwined with the Muslim faith,” said Ismail Hummos.
Hummos is a volunteer calligrapher for the Field Museum. Hummos said artists began calligraphy as a way to beautify the Islamic faith during a time of many restrictions.
“Arabic has developed over thousands of years. It was very simple handwriting when it started, and then Islam spread in the world and it spread Arabic with it. And all the cultures in humanity have contributed to the development of Arabic calligraphy,” said Hummos.
Calligraphy is known as the most fundamental element of Islamic art. Over time, the art spread into every aspect of Arab architecture, decoration and even coin design. There are many different styles of Islamic calligraphy; each has its own history and cultural significance.
The museum has worked with the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Arab American Cultural Center to set up the calligraphy event among many other activities celebrating Arab Americans’ contributions to science, culture and museums.
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