DENIZ ÖKTEM BEKTAŞ

• Participant in the exhibit "Arts and Crafts across the Islamic Geography." Producing an artwork titled "The Basmalah" as a permanent piece in the collection of Ithra.
• Participant in the documentary with the same subject as part of the exhibit.
• Lecturer at the symposium "Crafts and the City" with the presentation titled "An in-depth exploration of the Basmalah's artistic journey in the history of Calligraphy."

• Participates in a summer intensive program about "Art and Spirituality" in Istanbul
• Gives a workshop with lecture on Islamic Calligraphy
• As translator and instructor attends the field trips to museums, mosques and studios of artists to share knowledge.
• Made use of materials, such as ink, watercolors, charcoal, oil, computer software, paints, and pencils to complete unique piece for customers.

An online series to an international audience.

• Teaches the main curriculum to master the script of Naskh.

• Gives lecture series on various topics related to Islamic Calligraphy such as:

*The historical development of the art of calligraphy. *How to recognize different scripts.

*The love for Prophet Muhammad in Calligraphy: "Hilye-i Sharif."

* The signature tradition in calligraphy, namely "The Kataba."

*The gorgeous calligraphy of Bursa Ulu Mosque. * Inspiring anecdotes from lives of masters from the past.

* Taksim mosque: How were the monumental inscriptions prepared with today's technology?

*A blend of classical and modern calligraphy: A calendar project of Albayrak holding.

*The Legends: Exploring the lives of contemporary calligraphers and masters of the past.

Provides online calligraphy lessons to potential calligraphy candidates from Canada, Pakistan, Türkiye, and various states across the United States with the aim of giving certification to continue the line of transmission existing in the tradition.

Interviewed by Dr. Semiha Topal, Associate prof. at William And Mary College in Maryland, U.S.A, for Scripsit, the journal of the Washington D.C. Callgraphers Guild, that published its Spring volume only about Arabic Calligraphy including various calligraphers and their students.

Gave a presentation about the history of Islamic Calligraphy as a guest speaker for the course "Introduction to Islam" at the Department of Religious Studies.

Served as the 'online guest instructor' for a calligraphy course (12 week) offered at Islamic Art, Social Sciences and Liberal Arts at IBA Karachi. Collaborated with the in-person instructor to offer practice lessons for the course. Gave lectures as part of the practice sessions ending the course with a students' exhibit and online lecture to academicians.

• Consulted with clients to discuss commission ideas and style preferences to create mutually agreeable project parameters.

Participated in the calligraphy exhibition titled 'Living Line, Living Legacy.' Presented at the symposium organized as part of the exhibition and talked about the importance of the master-student relationship in the training of calligraphers.

Gave an introduction workshop on calligraphy to the public during an Asian festival.

• Collaborated with 36 female calligraphers on writing a Mushaf
• Selected by Master Hasan Çelebi, received the privilege of writing the 1st chapter of the Qur'an for the Çamlıca mosque project.

Wrote 20 pages from the Holy Qur'an in the script of Naskh as part of the program 'Multaqa Ramadan.' Collaborated with 30 calligraphers from various countries to produce a mushaf (Qur'an) written during the holy month of Ramadan.

• Assisted Prof. Önder with teaching Turkish language classes.
• Provided support with preparation of grammar worksheets and exam questions.
• Taught the speaking classes for 3 levels.

Organized and maintained confidential documents, files, and records.

Wrote an article for the journal, Islamic Horizons, interviewing Calligraphy Master Mohamed Zakariya about his life, art and specifically calligraphy composition for the Muslim stamp issued by the United States Postal Service in 2000.