“East of East” An Evening with World-Renowned Islamic Calligrapher   Haji Noor Deen Mi Guang Jian

An eminent master of Arabic calligraphy, born in 1963 in eastern China's Shandong Province bordering the Yellow Sea, Haji Noor Deen lectures on the art of Arabic calligraphy at the Islamic College in Zhen Zhou, where he has also established a correspondence course to enable students from all areas of China to study Arabic calligraphy. In addition, he researches Islamic culture at the Henan Academy of Sciences. In 1997, Haji Noor Deen was the first Chinese Muslim to be awarded the Egyptian Certificate of Arabic Calligraphy and to be admitted as a member of the Association of Egyptian Calligraphy.

 

Haji Noor Deen's extraordinary mastery and genius in the art of Arabic calligraphy along with his unique ability to spectacularly deliver his craft to an audience has brought him lecture and workshop invitations from some of the most renowned and prestigious institutions around the world, including: Harvard University, Cambridge University, University of California-Berkley, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Pennsylvania, Tufts University, the Bukhari Institute and the Zaytuna Institute, amongst a few.

 

Endowed with not only intense intellect but also fantastic energy and the ability to convey his knowledge, Haji Noor Deen is one who is capable and ever willing to teach and impart his long perfected technique, as well as moral and material support; indeed, calligraphy is only secondarily a profession for him. First and foremost, calligraphy is an act of faith. Through this art form, he is free to render in ink an expression of conflated cosmologies, and guide a new generation of artist-scholars. By working to impart beauty under the complete guidance of faith, Haji Noor Deen leaves his mark on the world as a giver of incredible aesthetic beauty as well as the beauty of moral excellence.