Expat calligrapher gifts his work to football star Almoeez

People continue to find novel ways to express their feelings and love for others. Words have long been used to communicate feelings. With the passage of time, man has learnt the art of conveying feelings through innovative writing styles like calligraphy.
Abdul Kareem Kakkove, a 40-year-old calligrapher from Kerala in India, has conveyed his love for Qatar through different kinds of calligraphic artworks. He recently brought forth some creative art pieces praising Qatar’s national football team and their historic victory in Asia Cup.
Two of his calligraphic works became an instant hit on social media the day Qatar won the Asia Cup final in UAE. People shared and appreciated the artistry of the calligrapher, who has been through a difficult and struggling journey to learn and master the art of calligraphy.
Most recently, the artist’s expression of love for Qatar received a wholesome response from the team as well. Star player Almoeez Ali accepted Abdul Kareem’s artwork showing how the player scored the goal against Japan in the final with his bicycle kick. Almoeez invited Abdul Kareem, who along with his children, met Qatar’s hero and presented his artwork to him.
Talking to Community, the ecstatic calligrapher said, “It was a historic moment for me when Almoeez accepted the gift from me. He was happy to meet me and my two children. My son Ahmed Kashif Kareem has become a huge fan of the player after watching his goal against Japan in the Asia Cup final. I presented him my artwork that he happily accepted and appreciated.”
Talking about how he met the star player, the calligrapher said, “It is an interesting story. I watched the final match at my home. I did not go out to any fan zone to watch the final because I knew that Qatar would win and I wanted to create something special for the moment immediately. The moment I saw the goal by Almoeez, I started working on my piece. I made the piece showing Almoeez kicking the football into Qatar. The art piece went viral on social media and received a lot of appreciation.
“On the same night, I thought to create something different. I prepared a piece that featured the word Qatar in Arabic, looking as a player and bicycle kicking the ball. The creative piece became instantly popular as people shared it on their social media accounts.
“One of my friends Ibrahim Orumanayoor, a photographer by profession, told me that Almoeez had shared my art piece as a story on his Instagram. He also helped me in getting the phone number of the player. After much of efforts, I managed to talk to Almoeez. He was very happy when I told him that I was the calligrapher who created the art piece. On my request, he asked me to come to a house in Al Gharafa, where he was visiting somebody. I reached there with my son Ahmed Kashif and daughter Aysha Ishaal.
“It was a super moment for us. He hugged me and thanked me. I presented him the especially created and framed art piece. He graciously accepted the gift.”
When asked what his motivation behind bringing out the calligraphic pieces, Abdul Kareem said, “I try to convey human emotions through calligraphy. I capture the emotional moments. Further, I have love for Qatar where I have been living for eight years. When I saw no support for Qatar in the UAE stadium, I got emotional. I think it is unlucky to see politics affecting sports. It was also disheartening to see how the spectators treated the Qatari players. It further sparked my love for Qatar. I decided to share my love through my creativity.
“Further, I wanted to highlight the historic win and unflagging sportsmanship of Qatar. I also celebrated, like everybody else, the heroics of Almoeez in the Asian Cup tournament as he became the leading scorer of the event. He also needed appreciation for the bicycle kick goal in the final under a lot of pressure.”