23.03.26 – 08.05.26, Houda Ben Azzouz, Scriptural Abstraction

Is script meant to be read, or meant to be seen? At what point does handwriting become a gesture, a trace on a surface rather than a vehicle of meaning?

Scriptural Abstraction explores the use of script as a visual language that moves beyond legibility. From sacred calligraphic traditions to modern and contemporary experiments, artists have long examined the tension between writing and drawing. The exhibition turns toward what might be called the shadow side of writing: the visual dimension of script that remains hidden behind its role as language, where writing abandons its communicative function and moves toward texture, movement and the abstract visual form.

This exploration takes place at a moment when writing itself is undergoing a transformation. Writing today is almost invariably produced through keyboards and digital interfaces, while the practice of handwriting continues to decline across much of the Western world. What was once a material, gestural act performed by the hand is increasingly replaced by standardized typographic forms.

Against this background, the works brought together in this selection return to writing as a physical and visual practice. The selected books present words, letters, and calligraphic signs as visual material, loosening the bond between reading and understanding. Writing shifts between script and image as letters dissolve, repeat, or distort. Script turns into pattern and language becomes image. Meaning may disappear, but significance remains.

Houda Ben Azzouz

Houda Ben Azzouz is a Brussels-based visual artist and researcher working across writing, curating, printmaking, photography, and calligraphy. Her practice explores how visual forms shape cultural narratives and how visual languages influence one another across cultures and histories. She is currently following the postgraduate Curatorial Studies at KASK & Conservatorium (2025–2026).

1M3 is a cubic metre dedicated to the Kunstenbibliotheek’s artist’s book collection.

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