The Islamicisation of Africa led to considerable social change, which is clearly visible in the construction of modern African societies as well as in their artistic production methods. Islamic law prohibits naturalistic representation, as this is perceived to be a challenge to God’s authority in matters of creation. Islamic artists therefore often employed the “principle of improbability”, by which general forms of animals or humans might be produced, but so far removed from naturalism that they would be permitted. In Africa, however, where traditional religion was intimately tied up with artistic production, this loophole could not be exploited (as the religions themselves were also banned in favour of Islam), and it would also seem that the production of secular objects has suffered from the imposition of Islamic principles as almost all figurative representation (with some exceptions) has vanished in heavily Islamicised areas.

Islamic art therefore often takes inspiration from the written word, and calligraphy is perhaps the art form for which Arabic culture is best known. In all educational establishments controlled by Islam, therefore, there has always been considerable emphasis on teaching the formation of Arabic script, from letter formation, then rising to copying excerpts from the Koran. In areas where paper or parchment were either rare or prohibitively expensive, students would usually use boards such as this to practice on, using ink that could be erased, and permitting the reuse of the board.