Sheik’s treasure at Dolmabahçe Palace

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Dubai sheikh Al Maktoum’s calligraphy collection is at the Dolmabahçe Palace.

The million dollar collection of Dubai’s sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum comes to Turkey for the first time for an exhibition at Dolmabahçe Palace.

Makhtoum is known for his interest in pureblood horses and his calligraphy collection titled “The dream of the horse rider” reflects that. It has been brought to Istanbul for display. The United Arab Emirates places a huge importance on the art of calligraphy and the sheikh often buys exclusive pieces and exclusive commissions, the curator of the exhibition, calligraphy artist Mehmed Özçay said.

“Calligraphy art both reflects the history and aesthetics,” Özçay said. According to Özçay, the market for calligraphy art in Istanbul is huge, with many Turkish artists receiving lots of commissions and orders from Dubai.

“We suppose the interest to this art will increase in the future,” he said. Özçay himself is one of the most important and the most expensive living calligraphy artist of this era. He has eight calligraphy artworks in the exhibition. Iraqi calligraphy artist Hakim Gannam’s eulogies and also Abdülkadir Al Rayyis’ watercolor works are also presented in the exhibition.

Winning works

The works are on display in Dolmabahçe Palace with the winning work from the United Arab Emirates Culture, Youth and Society Development Ministry’s art competition. The competition of the ministry, El Burde, is one of the most prestigious calligraphy competitions in the world. More than 20 Turkish artists have received prizes in this competition.

The exhibition “El Burde” will be open until Oct. 14.