Exhibition Date: November 7 – December 12, 2015

 

Exhibition Place: Multiple locations across San Francisco Bay Area, California, including

• Islamic Cultural Center of Northern California (ICCNC) at 1433 Madison Street, Oakland CA 94612

• Oakland Asian Cultural Center (OACC) at 388 Ninth St., #290, Oakland, CA 94607

• Oakland Main Public Library at 125 14th St., Oakland, CA 94612

• Online Exhibition at the Website of Ziya Art Center (www.ziyaart.com)

 

OVERVIEW AND BACKGROUND

 

“Calligraphies in Conversation” encompasses an annual group exhibition and a series of public venues including calligraphy demonstrations, workshops, and talks focusing on endorsing the appreciation of traditional calligraphy in hands-on and tangible manner. The emphasis of this program is initiating a meaningful conversation between different calligraphy traditions especially between the Middle Eastern and Islamic calligraphy and other calligraphy scripts, traditions, and languages.

 

This year, over 70 artworks is curated out of over 250 submissions from local, national and international artists and calligraphers including Canada, Czech Republic, Egypt, France, Italy, India, Indonesia, Iran, Pakistan, Russia, Turkey, UK, and USA. A range of diverse traditions and scripts will be exhibited, with an array of Western, Chinese, Japanese, Tibetan, Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Hebrew, and Indian traditional calligraphy artworks as well as manifestations of calligraphy in some contemporary and abstract art pieces. The exhibition will host a wide assortment of medium including calligraphy with traditional tools, painting, pottery and ceramics, digital arts and 3D printing, mixed media, metal art and jewelry, collage, and installation.

 

The 2015 exhibition is curated from outstanding works by award winning artist and calligrapher, Arash Shirinbab, Executive Director of Ziya Art Center. Shirinbab has led over 4 dozen public art programs, has curated over 5 international exhibitions from over 1,500 submissions, and has conducted over 2 dozen calligraphy workshops and demonstrations. He has participated in over 70 exhibitions (over 10 solos) nationally and internationally in the U.S., Spain, Poland, Canada, Russia, France, Italy, and Iran.

 

PUBLIC VENUES

 

- November 7th, 5 – 8 p.m. at ICCNC at 1433 Madison Street, Oakland CA 94612

Free opening reception ceremony with remarks, refreshments, and panel discussion and calligraphy demonstration by award winning international calligraphers including:

 

• Ronald Y. Nakasone: Master in East Asian literati tradition and a member of the Core Doctoral Faculty at the Graduate Theological Union (GTU)

• M. Navid Bazargan: Master Persian calligrapher holding “Outstanding Calligrapher” degree from Iranian Association of Calligraphers

• Arash Shirinbab: Award winning artist and Arabic-Persian calligrapher

• Amol Saraf: Award winning artist and tribal Indian calligrapher from India

• Leon Sun: Printmaker, photographer, painter, graphic designer, three-dimensional artist, writer, and poet

 

 

- November 14th, 2 – 5 p.m. at Oakland Main Public Library at 125 14th St., Oakland, CA 94612

Free calligraphy demonstrations by award winning and renowned master calligraphers including:

 

• Rick Paulus: Former White House chief calligrapher

• Alan A. Blackman: Well-known calligrapher & lettering artist (Western scripts)

• Elizabeth Nisperos: Multidisciplinary calligrapher reviving the lost Baybayin script of Philippines 

• Arash Shirinbab: Award winning artist and Arabic-Persian calligrapher

 

- November 21st, 2 – 5 p.m. at OACC at 388 Ninth St., #290, Oakland, CA 94607

Free special calligraphy silent auction with refreshments, curator’s talk, and calligraphy and art demos by local calligraphers and artists

 

- December 12th, 2 – 4 p.m. at ICCNC at 1433 Madison Street, Oakland CA 94612

Free closing reception and hands-on workshop: The art of Persian painting and Islamic geometric design in relation to calligraphy. By Maryam Vesal, local artist and maestro of Persian Miniature and Tazheeb.

 

 

EXHIBITION VIEWING DATES AND TIMES

 

• Islamic Cultural Center of Northern California (ICCNC) at 1433 Madison Street, Oakland CA 94612: Fridays and Saturdays 12 – 5 p.m. at gallery space        on 2nd floor

 

• Oakland Asian Cultural Center (OACC) at 388 Ninth St., #290, Oakland, CA 94607: Saturdays and Sundays 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. at the exhibition hallway

 

• Oakland Main Public Library at 125 14th St., Oakland, CA 94612: Everyday 1 – 5:30 p.m. at the display cases on the ground floor

 

• Online Exhibition at the Website of Ziya Art Center (www.ziyaart.com): 24/7 for the period of 3 months till February 2016.

 

 

GENERAL INFORMATION

 

- The exhibition and all the related public programs are free, in English, and open to the public. Donations are highly appreciated.

- Oakland Main Public Library and OACC are wheelchair accessible but ICCNC is not wheelchair accessible.

- Special group tours out of the regular viewing hours can be scheduled with the curator by emailing to ziya.art.studio@gmail.com at least 1 week ahead.

- Space and supplies are limited for the venues and supplies are allocated based on first come first served bases.

- Arts are for sale. All purchase inquiries will be handled by emailing to the curator at ziya.art.studio@gmail.com including the name of artist and the piece in the body of the email.

- The exhibition book is planned to be produced with limited volume for $60. Pre-orders will only pay $30. To pre-order the book, send us an email to ziya.art.studio@gmail.com by November 15, 2015.

- For More information please email us at ziya.art.studio@gmail.com or call the curator at 510-283-4518.

- Any changes to the programs will be announced via our website at www.ziyaart.com and Facebook page at Ziya Multicultural Art Center.

 

 

PARTNERS AND SPONSORS

 

Ziya Art Center in partnership with Islamic Cultural Center of Northern California (ICCNC), Oakland Asian Cultural Center (OACC), SAMENA Circle, Persian Arts Revival (PAR), Met Arts, and California School of Traditional Arts, are leading the 2015 program. This program is made possible by a grant from the Alliance for California Traditional Arts, in partnership with Walter and Elise Haas Fund, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and the Surdna Foundation.

 

LIST OF THE ACCEPTED ARTISTS