The First International Calligraphy Competition was organized by the International Commission for the Preservation of Islamic Cultural Heritage (ICPICH), and conducted by IRCICA as the Secretariat and Executive Organ of ICPICH, in 1986. The competition was dedicated to the renown calligrapher Hamid Al-Amidi (Aytaç), to commemorate him and encourage young calligraphers to follow his example. This was later adopted as a feature of the competition program, where each edition of the competition was named after an illustrious calligrapher. This first competition received 1272 entries submitted by 352 participants from 32 countries. 62 works presented by 43 participants from 18 countries received prizes. An award ceremony was held at IRCICA on 16 May 1987 coinciding with the fifth anniversary of Hamid Aytaç’s death.
