WHAT IS AHAR PAPER?

It is known as Ahar Paper or Muqahar Paper in Arabic ورق مقهر in English. It is a profession that has been applied for centuries to strengthen the paper with the help of starchand eggs and for calligraphers to write comfortably on paper and has taken its final form today and is professionally performed in our workshop.

HOW TO KEEP AHAR PAPER?

 Starch is a substance that is very affected by humidity and should never be placed in a nylon bag while holding the papers. If there is enough space to hold it, it is placed on top of each other and a weight is left on top. Or it is kept rolled so that the ahar is kept outside. Stable paper is one of the leading materials among arabic calligraphy materials. Ahar Paper is a material that should be used by the user in advance and kept waiting. It will be sufficient to keep it for at least 1-2 weeks in urgent writings and 3 months in arbitrary cases. There are differences between paper that is ahared in winter and paper that is ahared in summer. In order to write more comfortably on ahar paper in the winter months; before writing on fresh (lightly aged) paper, rolling the paper so that the bleed remains on the front side and keeping it on a heating pad for a few hours will make it 10 times more comfortable to write and will allow the pen to move easily on the paper. In summer, the drying time of the ahar Paper will be faster. The ongoing information that "you cannot write without keeping the paper for 2-3 years" is nothing but a myth and legend. Time is the most precious treasure for the artist. Of course, the longer the paper is kept in arbitrary situations, the more beneficial it will be for the calligrapher. Even if the paper prepared with wrong techniques waits until doomsday, it will still not benefit the calligrapher.

THE ISSUE OF CORRECTION ON AHAR PAPER

If the calligrapher wipes the ink with water in the event of an error during writing on the ahar paper prepared with the right techniques and not waited, he will see that the ink is scraped off the paper "together with the egg" without leaving any trace of ink underneath. On the other hand, the ink is not scraped off with the egg, the egg remains on the paper and the ink remains on the cotton or material it is cleaned with.  If correction is made with the letter scraping method, the ink will be scraped off the paper if the paper is of good quality, regardless of whether the paper has waited or not. Of course, the ink will be scraped from a harder and tougher ground while scraping the ink on the waiting paper, so the scraping mark and damage on the paper will be less.

HOW TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT AHAR PAPER  

There are some points to be considered when selecting a ahar paper.  When writing on it with soot ink, Shiminckhe ink or Japanese inks, especially in cases where the pen passes over the same letter 2 times (the letter "LAM"), the ink becomes muddy on the ahar paper, the ink does not hold even after applying powder on the ahar, the paper looks extremely bright and smooth, which indicates that the wrong paper has been selected and may be signs that the ahar paper is made with the wrong techniques or that some chemical substances have been used. In such cases, features such as erasure and scratching are not sought.  In any case, the pen does not move easily on the paper. Writing on this kind of paper will prevent the work from being lost, the quality of the work from decreasing and the beauty of the letters from appearing. Whether the type of paper is Italian bamboo or handmade does not determine the quality of the paper. The quality of the paper is only determined by the workmanship of the ahar on it.

The paper must be ahared and fixed on a cardboard before the wood. If this stretching process is done too much, the paper will burst and tear in the middle after the 2nd layer. If it is stretched too little, the paper releases itself and it becomes difficult to apply the egg and starch. This situation becomes more difficult with thin paper.

AHAR PAPER MAKING

Making ahar paper is a highly technical task. It is not possible to reach the right consistency and technique without making thousands of papers. Each type of paper has its own egg and starch consistency. Even in the same type of paper, egg and starch consistencies differ in different colors. When applying the egg and starch to the paper, it requires a lot of experience to apply it without leaving any traces on the ahar paper. This traceless application technique differs for each type of paper. Applying the egg and starch on the paper layer by layer will cause the paper to crack. After applying the 1st layer, it is necessary to wait long enough to move on to the 2nd layer.

 Preparing raw egg whites for application is a job in itself. In order to reach the right consistency, it is necessary to experiment with a large number of egg cartons and experience the effects. Too little alum mixed with the egg will cause the egg to turn to slime, too much will cause the egg to crystallize and the egg will crack on its own. Too much cooked starch will cause the egg to hold the pencil and too little starch will break the effect of the egg.

PAPER PRESSING

 The pressing of the papers is very tiring. It requires pressing the agate stone back and forth against the paper on a surface where the paper will not slip. Thus, the paper will fuse with the egg and improve the quality of writing. And the paper will get rid of the stiffness of starch and egg and will relax by reaching the consistency of old dough. It is not possible for the master to touch the sealing stone to every point of the paper. For this reason, every calligrapher should acquire a paper sealer and seal the piece of paper he cuts for writing from the back (from the unharmed part). The seal should never be applied to the aharred part, the stone will scratch the ahar. Agate seal only polishes the gold. It does not leave an effect on the ahar.  There is no difference between making a seal with glass or agate on the aharized paper.

HOW TO WRITE ON AHAR

Writing on ahar paper is very different from writing on other glossy or stone papers. Calligrapher prepares themselves by writing on the stable paper while scribbling, and students should prepare and familiarize themselves by writing their lessons on the muqahar  paper after working with glossy paper until a certain stage.

Hatem Art Gallery serves all amateur and professional art lovers who are interested in this art by producing the highest quality ahar papers in its workshop in Istanbul.