Art of Naht is to apply calligraphic scripts and decorative patterns on wood by means of carving, inlaying, and illumination techniques. It transforms scripts and patterns into 3d structures using a wood or textile backdrop.
Naht is an Arabic origin word meaning carving. During the Seljuk and the Ottoman period, it is used as the original meaning. It was a part of the decoration and ornamentation of architectural works and producing decorative objects especially for religious buildings.
Today Naht metamorphosed into a new type of art by merging carving, inlaying, and illumination to forming 3D calligraphic scripts and decorative patterns using wood or some metals like brass.
The process of Naht art is choosing a calligraphic script or pattern, copying this script on wood, cutting with a scroll saw according to the shape of the script, laying script on a wood or textile backdrop. It can be enriched by different techniques according to the artists’ visualization.
The Naht artists usually prefer to use perfect examples of famous calligraphist’s works. Some of them may desire to write the scripts by themselves. Whichever is preferred the fact is every Naht artist has to know calligraphy very well to be able to perform this art