Exhibition
Script and Pattern: Akkase Ebru and the Art of the Ottoman Manuscript
Free · Open to all — no ticket or booking required
From the opening on 20th November until the 19th of December, the exhibition will be free to view for all visitors without prior booking every day between 10:00–20:00 on weekends and weekdays.
Script and Pattern approaches ebru, the Turkish art of marbling paper with pigments floated on a prepared water surface, not as a self-contained decorative practice but as part of the material and visual culture of the Ottoman manuscript. The visitor is encouraged to see a manuscript as the result of overlapping arts in which the written text does not exist independently of its material support. Paper, script, ruling, illumination, marbling, ornament and binding participate together in the organisation of the page.
Interpretive material introduces the techniques, terminology and artistic principles behind the works. Visitors are guided through the processes of ebru and akkâse, the use of successive layers and reserved areas, and the relationship between marbling and calligraphy within the wider traditions of the arts of the book.
At the centre of the exhibition is akkâse ebru, a form of marbling based on repeated applications of colour and the selective reservation of areas of the paper. Through masking or resist techniques, parts of a prepared surface are protected before another layer of marbling is applied. When these reserved areas are revealed, writing, ornament or other forms emerge through the contrast between successive surfaces.
The significance of akkâse therefore lies not simply in technical complexity. Its visual language depends upon layering, concealment and exposure. The contours of calligraphy determine the distribution of the marbled field, while the surrounding colour and pattern determine how the written form becomes visible. Script and pattern consequently operate through one another, bringing figure and ground, positive and negative space, text and ornament into a single composition.
A number of the works bring ebru into direct dialogue with calligraphic compositions. Qur’anic verses, hadith, prayers and devotional texts appear within compositions in which writing and marbling are materially and visually connected. Through akkâse, letters and motifs may emerge from protected areas of the surface, while the surrounding pattern contributes to the balance, rhythm and structure of the composition.
The chapel setting allows these relationships to be experienced across a wider group of works. Visitors can move between individual compositions and observe variations in technique, recurring forms, the interaction of script and pattern and the disciplined craftsmanship underlying each sheet.
As part of The Cambridge Festival of Islamic Arts, the installation draws particular attention to the place of the written word within Islamic visual culture. Text can be encountered simultaneously as language and as visual form: through the proportions of letters, the movement and rhythm of the line, the arrangement of words and their relationship with ornament and colour.
About the Artist
Professor Ahmet Sacit Açıkgözoğlu | Scholar, Calligrapher and Ebru Artist
The exhibition centres on the work of Professor Ahmet Sacit Açıkgözoğlu, art historian, calligrapher and ebru artist, and Rector of Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University in Istanbul. His academic work encompasses Turkish and Islamic art, Ottoman architecture, inscriptions and the arts of the book. Alongside his scholarly formation, he has pursued sustained training in hüsn-i hat — the classical tradition of artistic Arabic-script calligraphy — and received his formal authorisation, or icazet, in ebru from Sadreddin Özçimi in 2005.
Açıkgözoğlu’s work brings together forms of knowledge that belong to closely related traditions: historical research, the close study of objects and inscriptions, calligraphic discipline, knowledge of materials, workshop practice and the transmission of technique from master to student.
About the Yunus Emre Enstitüsü
Established in 2010, Yunus Emre Enstitüsü – London is the Republic of Türkiye’s official cultural institute, promoting Turkish language and culture worldwide through more than 90 centres abroad. The Institute delivers a structured programme of cultural events, exhibitions, and Turkish language courses, supporting cultural engagement between Türkiye and the United Kingdom. Through its educational and cultural activities, the Institute provides access to Türkiye’s artistic heritage and contemporary cultural production, serving a wide and diverse audience.
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About The Cambridge Festival of Islamic Arts
The Cambridge Festival of Islamic Arts runs from 19 to 29 November 2026, bringing performances, exhibitions, lectures, and workshops to Cambridge’s historic colleges, museums, and cultural spaces. Open to everyone, the festival celebrates the beauty and diversity of Islamic arts, and, fifty years on from the landmark 1976 World of Islam Festival, carries that spirit into our own time. Find out more at cfia.co.uk.