An Artistic and Spiritual Retreat
Music for the Eyes
What earlier appreciation for this practice has failed to fully embrace is that all throughout the world the richness of Islamic calligraphy has flourished, in different regions that are both at the center and the periphery of Islam, with different schools finding their roots in the spirituality and the unique practice of Islam in each region. Today the Reed Society for the Sacred Arts and the West African Calligraphy Institute invite you to discover the diversity of the calligraphic form, to learn from practitioners, both of traditional schools and those at the frontiers of Islam, and to join a growing community of people who seek to increase human understanding and compassion through artistic expression. If, in the words of the American calligrapher, Mohamed Zakariya,“calligraphy is music for the eyes,” then we invite you to join us this October in Abiquiu, New Mexico for a beautiful symphony.
An artistic and spiritual retreat
anchored in three traditions of Arabic calligraphy:
West African, Ottoman and Persian
Annual Retreat in
Abiquiu, New Mexico
Returning
October 2025
Abiquiu, New Mexico
Returning
October 2025
We invite you to…
Spend time with award winning artists and scholars who will be your instructor and share their unique perspectives on art and spirituality and guide you with hands on experience in exploring different calligraphy styles and scripts…
Step into the sacred space of Dar al Islam, an American Islamic sacred space dreamed and designed by the internationally renowned architect, Hassan Al Fathy. Al Fathy wrote the book Architecture for the Poor and was consciously trying to create structures that seamlessly melded with the nature and environment of the each place...
Explore the landscape that drew Georgia Okeefe to this very area, leaving behind the bustle of city life to settle into a reverential rapport with the mountains, the rocks, the moon and the sky of Abiquiu and create paintings that are part of the American canon
Enjoy the company of seekers who understand the intersectionality of spirituality and art and have an unforgettable weekend, one that you will carry with you forever
The Retreat Center
Dar Al Islam is a retreat center situated on 1,600 acres in Abiquiu, New Mexico. The landscape is dramatic and awe inspiring and utterly different than the rest of the United States.
Designed by Egyptian architect Hasan Fathy and completed in 1981, the campus is anchored by its Nubian inspired mosque and includes a library, lecture hall, dorm spaces, and multiple courtyards. Dar Al Islam is a nonprofit organization dedicated to cultivating a harmonious, integrated society through their mission and vision.
Another gem of the property is the geological landscape of the Plaza Blanca (White Place). The Plaza Blanca is a beautiful slot canyon, unlike any other in the Southwest, well know for its mystical desert beauty where our participants will hike in the mornings.
2025 Retreat Information
The Artists
Bahman Panahi
Franco-Iranian artist Bahman Panahi was born in 1967. He holds a Ph.D. in music and musicology, he is a visual artist, calligrapher and musician. At a very young age, he understood that calligraphy is a living art, where gesture is combined with rhythm in the search for balance and a consonant harmony, seeking to sublimate sentences, words and letters, whilst revealing their melodic dimension. This poetic conception led him naturally to highlight the resonances of calligraphy and music. Inspired by these two artistic practices, he has made them his vocation. From his teenage years onwards, he devoted his studies to that purpose. His studies took him to France, where he deepened his research and developed the concept of Musicalligraphy in his doctoral thesis at Sorbonne University. In his work, Bahman Panahi consistently endeavoured to bring out this conceptual dimension of calligraphy. This artistic practice, comprising both traditional and abstract calligraphic compositions, has allowed him to travel: exhibitions, concerts, artistic performances around the world, exchanges with international artists have all waymarked Bahman Panahi’s life and have lent him international prominence.
Fallou Fall
Fall is a graphic artist and calligrapher born and raised on the outskirts of Dakar, in the locales of Pikine and Guédiawaye. He was trained in the technique of West African calligraphy (a maghrebi derived script) and in the mystical significance of the Arabic alphabet by his father, renowned international artist Yelimane Fall. Fallou Fall is part of the Mouridiyya and is learned in both the Holy Quran, and the teachings and khassaides (poetry) of Sheikh Ahmadou Bamba. Fallou is a burgeoning artist in Senegal, taking on his father’s name le Messeger de la Foi. He continues to develop West African calligraphic style, creating large and medium sized multi-media artworks and murals centered on Islam, the poetry of Bamba, and themes of social importance. Fallou is the Artistic Director of the West African Calligraphy Institute, continuing the work in Senegal in social activism and establishing the Institute and school.
Nuria Garcia Masip
Born in 1978 in Ibiza, Spain, Nuria Garcia Masip grew up between Spain and the USA. In 1999, after completing her university studies, she traveled to Morocco where she developed an interest in Islamic art. In 2000, she returned to Washington D.C. where she started studying the rik’a, sülüs, and nesih scripts with calligrapher (hattat) Mohamed Zakariya. In 2004, she moved to Istanbul where she continued to study the sülüs, and nesih scripts with hattat Hasan Çelebi, and with hattat Davut Bektaş. In 2007, she received her diploma (ijazah) in these two scripts, signed by her three teachers. She holds a Masters in Art History from the Sorbonne University, has won prestigious prizes in international calligraphy competitions and her work forms part of various private and museum collections. She has also organized numerous workshops and conferences on this art to promote the art of calligraphy internationally. Her work is firmly rooted in the classical school of calligraphy and she enjoys preserving the techniques and materials of the tradition. Nuria is currently living in Paris where she teaches, researches, and works on calligraphy.
Schedule
8PM
Welcome Dinner
7:30AM
9AM
10:30AM—12:30PM
1 PM
2—4PM
5—7PM
7:30PM
9—10PM
10:30PM
Hike in Plaza Blanca
Breakfast
Session with First Artist
Lunch
Session with First Artist
Hike/Archery
Dinner
Fireside Gathering
Lights Out
Day 3
Day 4
7:30AM
9AM
10:30AM—12:30PM
1 PM
2—4PM
5—7PM
7:30PM
9—10PM
10:30PM
Hike in Plaza Blanca
Breakfast
Session with First Artist
Lunch
Session with First Artist
Hike/Archery
Dinner
Fireside Gathering
Lights Out
7:30AM
9 AM
10:30AM—12:30 PM
1PM
2—4PM
5—7PM
Hike
Breakfast
Session with Third Artist
Lunch
Session with Third Artist
Dinner/Departure
Pricing
Includes program and meals
Includes program, meals and lodging
FAQs
Terms and Conditions
Terms and Conditions form can be found here
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