Reports and Photos of "Calligraphies in Conversation" 2015
“Calligraphies in Conversation” second international exhibition encompassed a group exhibition and a series of public events including calligraphy demonstrations, workshops, and calligraphers’ talks and presentations 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/Islamic calligraphy and other calligraphy scripts and traditions.
“Calligraphies in Conversation” initiated in 2012 by a core team including Raeshma Razvi of Silkworm Media, Arash Shirinbab and Fateme Montazeri of Ziya Art Center, and a community leader, Ali Sheikholeslami, and made possible by the support of Islamic Cultural Center of Northern California (ICCNC) and a grant from Alliance for California Traditional Arts (ACTA).
Shirinbab curated over 70 artworks 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 for the Calligraphies in Conversation exhibition 2015.
A range of diverse traditions and scripts 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 hosted 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.
Calligraphies in Conversation second international exhibition was held on November 7 – December 12, 2015 at multiple locations across San Francisco Bay Area, California, including Islamic Cultural Center of Northern California (ICCNC), Oakland Asian Cultural Center (OACC), and Oakland Main Public Library.
Photos of the opening and closing reception at ICCNC. Photos by Minoosh Zomorodinia:
Photos of the exhibition at OACC:
Photos of the exhibition at Oakland Main Public Library:
