“Calligraphies in Conversation” encompasses 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).

 

This program builds on the success of our inaugural Calligraphies in Conversation project in partnership with Islamic Cultural Center of Northern California (ICCNC) and Oakland Asian Cultural Center (OACC) in Spring 2014, where over 80 artworks were exhibited at these two locations near downtown Oakland. A range of diverse traditions and styles were exhibited, with an array of Chinese, Japanese, Tibetan, Arabic, Persian, and Turkish traditional calligraphy artworks as well as manifestations of calligraphy in some contemporary and abstract art pieces. Co-curators Arash Shirinbab, Neal Jamal Koga, and Raeshma Razvi assembled the collection over many months, in a competitive process that yielded 115 submissions mainly from the Bay Area and some from the U.S., United Kingdom, China, Iran, Japan, and Turkey. The exhibition coincided with four public events at ICCNC and resulted in a full color exhibition book. The public programs included:

 

• “Trees of Fall” calligraphy workshop and exhibition with Arash Shirinbab, April 26, 2014

• “Artist demonstration and talk”, jointly with Arash Shirinbab and Justin Hoover curator of SOMArts Cultural Center, April 12, 2014   

• “A Calligraphic Dialogue”, joint workshop with Japanese master calligrapher Uehira Baikei, February 13, 2013

• “Calligraphy Night” with Award Winning Calligrapher Haji Noor Deen from China, November 13, 2012

 

As an additional goal, the exhibition and related programs, by encompassing traditional artworks of different cultures, aim to foster dialogue between diverse cultures and faiths through a traditional art form. Such viewing combinations are rare in California, and will provide the public with the unique opportunity to recognize shared features: The traditions all highlight the power of written word via inscribing it artistically with pen and ink, and emphasize a direct relationship between spirituality and calligraphy. Being a good calligrapher, in the traditional sense, goes hand in hand with developing strong spirit and character.

 

In 2015, over 70 artworks 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 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.

 

Exhibition Date for 2015 exhibition: November 7 – December 12, 2015

 

Exhibition Place for 2015 exhibition: 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)