Mass-media about the exhibition

October 15, 2009


Today the pavilions of Moscow center "Sokolniki" welcomed the exhibition of manuscripts which are rather to be introspected than read. The samples of live calligraphy writing were brought to the International Exhibition of Calligraphy from 30 countries.
It is the case when “how” is no less important than “what”. The things offered to see are the sacral texts of Torah, the abstracts from Quran carved in gold, Arabic ligature weaved on the carpets, Old Russian script and other smart decorations.
The NTV correspondent Sergey Morozov lost in admiration.
In the times when the letters are made with a click on the button the virtuosic calligraphy impresses. The works demonstrated at the show were made on a special occasion. Here are the Volant suras from Quran by an Iranian artist Kaboli, a sacred scroll of mezuzah in the Old Hebrew language (the largest in the world by the way). It is demonstrated in a roll because it is sacral.
Avraam Borshevsky
Artist calligrapher: “Before writing the sacral texts I pronounce a special formula, or a meditation: everything I do, I do to accomplish the testimonials. For instance, if it is a mezuzah, then to accomplish the testimonials of mezuzah”.
The international masters of calligraphy conduct the master classes right at the exhibition. The patriarch of the world calligraphy Nja Mahdaoui painted planes for the emirs of Bahrain, Arab Emirates, and now, it seems, they have decided to work in a familiar manner. Nearby Massimo Polello was working boldly. His calligraphy has recently adorned the facades of Turin. There, the famous film director Peter Greenaway carried out his project with help of Massimo.
Massimo Polello, artist calligrapher: “Greenaway works with images, and for me it was for the first time that I was making calligraphy not on paper. It was a huge castle and video was projected on the castle wall”.
The National union of Calligraphers was founded a year ago and is governed by Petr Chobitko. He is the author of the unique script Constitution of the Russian Federation which means any change in the Constitution text is his potential new commission.
Among the texts sacred for any Russian there is also a script text of the anthem of Russia. It was designed by Barbara Calzolari, the fashion and car designer. She didn’t write the text because Cyrillic script requires special approach but she designed the text heading.
Barbara Calzolari, artist calligrapher: “Such like anthem decoration always contains an image of a national animal and plant. So I was able to learn more about Russia”.
Japanese and Chinese calligraphy always stand apart. It is a happy hunting ground – instead of dozens of letters there are thousands of hieroglyphs!
It is exciting to compare western and more ancient eastern calligraphy where the movement is performed from the right to the left or from top downward. Theoretically it makes quite a different representation of composition and another gives a new look at the world.
The weaker the calligraphic model is the more distant calligraphy stands from the model. If an ancient Hebrew letter is to be written with a Chinese ink and without any splits then in other pictures the letters are interweaved in ornamentation, painting or decorate plates and dresses… So, one can find whatever one desires at this show.
ImageSource: NTV, Tv channel