Online Resource - The CallFront Database of Calligraphic Works in Arabic Script - Now Available

After several years of research, development, and international collaboration, the CallFront team is pleased to announce the launch of the project’s website: https://callfront.inha.fr/s/callfront/page/welcome 

This website is intended for researchers, students, heritage professionals, and, more broadly, anyone interested in the history of calligraphy in Arabic script and it brings together a previously unpublished digital corpus dedicated to writings in Arabic script produced in the border regions of the Islamic world, from Spain to China. The corpus offers an original approach to these graphic traditions, based on a methodology developed by the project’s scientific consortium. Each entry combines a description of the artifact with a detailed analysis of the calligraphy based on the CallFront ontology, which is also available as open access.

The platform allows users to explore the data through various categories—regions, media, objects, monuments, manuscripts, graphic styles, interactive maps, or multi-criteria search. It thus offers a new tool for studying calligraphic traditions that are often little known and sometimes previously unpublished, while facilitating comparisons across regions, periods, and media. 

Beyond the database, the website now serves as a platform for disseminating CallFront’s scholarly activities. It will feature consortium news, publications, audiovisual resources, and information on upcoming events and projects.

Developed as part of the ANR project “Calligraphy in Arabic Script at the Frontiers of the Islamicate World (CallFront) ” (ANR-22-CE54-0015) directed by Eloïse Brac de la Perrière (Sorbonne Université, Institut National d’Histoire de l’Art, Paris) in collaboration with Maxime Durocher (Sorbonne Université), the website is hosted by the INHA and the project was also supported by Sorbonne Université, UMR 8167 Orient et Méditerranée, Barakat Trust, Observatoire des Patrimoines de l'Alliance Sorbonne Université and the Foundation Max van Berchem. 

Access to the site: https://callfront.inha.fr/s/callfront/page/welcome