Bilal Akkaya

Born in 1964 in the Devrek district of Zonguldak, Bilal Akkaya went to primary and secondary school in Adapazarı in 1984. He received his first calligraphy lessons from the Calligrapher Ali Rüştü Oran in İskenderpaşa. The artist studied calligraphy for seven years; practiced thuluth, naskh and riq'ah calligraphy and obtained ijazah certification from Calligrapher Saim Özel, one of the imams of Süleymaniye Mosque. He went to Syria in 1985 to study Islamic sciences where he taught calligraphy. Bilal Akkaya received his undergraduate degree in business administration and has been working in the advertising sector and the art world since 1988. The artist brings a modern perspective to traditional calligraphy and creates different, original and innovative designs outside classical calligraphy practices.