Hurufiyya movement
The Hurufiyya movement (Arabic: حروفية ḥurūfiyyah adjectival form ḥurūfī, 'of letters' of the alphabet) is an aesthetic movement that emerged in the second half of the twentieth century amongst artists from Muslim countries, who used their understanding of traditional Islamic calligraphy within the precepts of modern art. By combining tradition and modernity, these artists worked towards developing a culture-specific visual language, which instilled a sense of national identity in their respective nation-states when many of these states were shaking off colonial rule and asserting their independence.