We had the pleasure of interviewing a distinguished artist Bilal Akkaya, who has mastered and modernized the art of Islamic calligraphy. With a background rooted in traditional calligraphy education, he has also combined his creative talents with a career in advertising. In this interview, we explore his journey, the evolving role of calligraphy in today’s world, and how he bridges the gap between tradition and modernity in his unique works.
Could you please introduce yourself and provide us with a brief overview of your artistic background?
I was born in Zonguldak in 1964. I completed my secondary education in Adapazarı and Istanbul. While I was a first-year student in secondary school, my interest in calligraphy began with the writings my teacher, who I later learned was a calligrapher, wrote on the board.
When I was in the first grade of high school, my history teacher discovered my interest and talent in calligraphy and introduced me to the master calligrapher Hamid Aytaç. After this meeting, I started my first calligraphy education with my teacher Ali Rüştü Oran in İskenderpaşa.
Later, I continued this education with my teacher Calligrapher Saim Özel, one of the imams of Süleymaniye Mosque. At the end of 4 years, I completed my Thuluth, Nesih and Rik’a authorizations with my teacher Saim. Practicing this art in the ancient and aesthetic environment of the Suleymaniye Mosque provided me with a very valuable learning process.
After this education, I continued my university education in the field of Islamic sciences and business administration. This deep connection with art evolved into a different line with the advertising agency I founded in 1988.
From the first days of my business life to the present, in addition to my designs related to advertising, I have also built an original collection that I perform with calligraphy. I can say that I try to produce original designs that can be classified as classical and modern calligraphy. I have signed more than 20 personal exhibitions and have a collection of more than a thousand original works.
Do you think of calligraphy as an artform that demands change from the calligrapher? If so, in what ways do you think the journey of becoming a calligrapher has impacted your life and/or personality?
The variability of art and its relationship with the artist actually expresses a brief summary of my life. Classical calligraphy is an art form that has survived to the present day through a certain teacher-student relationship for centuries. After receiving this calligraphy education, I added my twenty years of advertising design experience to it and created a new combination.
At this point, I think it is essential to approach the issue in a settled manner and to undergo an in-depth education in the field in which you claim to produce a work of art. Indeed, we are now living in the millennium age and there is almost nothing that does not have its share of variability.
As a calligrapher, I create works based on my classical calligraphy education and the inspirations that the new age offers me. Of course, experience and life journey have great importance here. In fact, in my life journey, both my art education and my professional life have fed each other.
As a result, since I am a calligrapher, I had the chance to take my creative director experience to a different and new dimension. I have been continuing this process with active projects since 2011. I can say that this journey continues with new flavors in every project and collection preparation process.
You have mentioned the positive impact of a number of teachers on your journey with art. What do you think about calligraphy education today? Do you think an increased accessibility to Islamic arts is beneficial, or do you think that this may impact the scene negatively?
Yes, I have received training from different teachers since I started my art education. Calligraphy education is quite accessible today compared to the past. If necessary, even if you live in a different country, it is possible to receive online training from a calligrapher in Istanbul.
I find it very beneficial as an artist that art education has become easier to access. Because in the past, calligraphy was not a very well-known art. Therefore, its value was not properly recognized. Now, artists actively use social media, share their works and production processes directly with art lovers.
In addition, thanks to the opening of many courses, many people can receive calligraphy training and feel that aesthetic more deeply. All of these help people better understand how valuable this ancient art is. As they understand this, their interest in calligraphy increases. I see this as a mutual and positive cycle.
There has been an increase in demand for short-form and/or AI-generated advertising content by many companies. However, your brand-art projects seem to contrast this new trend of quick machine production with its appreciation of traditional art forms. What kind of an impact do you think this aspect of your work makes, both on brands and consumers?
This situation you mentioned is related to my being a creative director and also being nourished by the aesthetic forms of calligraphy. In fact, after years of calligraphy education, i produce works of art that can also be used in advertising.
Of course, this process also brings about a different positioning of my work in the advertising sector, where fast production is the issue. I use the elegance i gained from my classical calligraphy education to produce special designs for brands, and in terms of production, these designs are not fast-produced advertising products, but designs that have emerged as a result of long years of training, and even have gone through difficult paths.
I can say that this different perspective i have developed in advertising and the art-centered solutions i offer, attract great interest from institutions. Because, as an advertiser, we are doing a job that will contribute to the communication activities of the institution in question, and unlike the fast production of today’s advertising, we are creating original works of art as a result of the education and experience i have spent years on.
Of course, very deep stories are built for institutions here. When the projects that emerge are presented to the target audience, the artistic value of the work both creates respect for the institution and stimulates interest.
Your art mingles traditional art forms with technology and advertising (especially seen in your work for ASELSAN and TUSAŞ). However, as an artform with a centuries-long legacy, tradition is also central to Islamic calligraphy. In this context, have you experienced any challenges in the meticulous execution of modernized Islamic calligraphy? If so, what learning opportunities have these challenges provided you?
In fact, this situation expresses a process related to my perspective on calligraphy. The main goal of calligraphy is to convey a certain message to the art-loving masses in the most elegant way and to bring them together with that message. A calligrapher writes a verse, a hadith or a beautiful saying in a rule-abiding and aesthetic way; and conveys it to the masses. I have built a style of calligraphy design by making art interpretations in line with the mission & vision of the brands and creating its content within the framework of the brief given by the brand.
This attracts the appreciation of both brands and art lovers through the artistic & premium effect it adds to the institution. Because the works i interpret are viewed in terms of meaning, not form. As both a calligrapher and an advertiser, I combine the power and elegance of calligraphy with the message of the institution. Thus, I am trying to build an important branch of traditional calligraphy for today. In fact, i see this situation as the enrichment of classical calligraphy. Because, even though a solution centered on corporate communication is produced for brands as a result of these artworks, there is an art production based on classical calligraphy education and advertising experience that has lasted for many years.
When i combined this elegance and the process i dedicated to art with over 30 years of advertising design experience, i found myself on a very broad and layered journey. In every new project, this journey brings me newer, more meaningful processes.
Featured Image: AA
