Saturday programme at the International Exhibition of Calligraphy

Saturday at the International Exhibition of Calligraphy was marked by a vast interactive programme with all sorts of talks and workshops to participate in, running from noon through to late night.

Starting at 12:00, Marina Khankova, artist, teacher and illustrator of her original Russian ABC Book, held a 1,5-hour long workshop named Bilibin's Style Initial, the guests of which could create their own original initial decorated in Bilibin's style, guided by professional. It was the very Bilibin's art that inspired Marina to create her own ABC Book, which took her 8 years.

At 14:00 Asylbek Urynbasarov, who came over intentionally from Kazakhstan, held an Arabic calligraphy workshop to introduce the mysterious Arabic script in all shapes and sizes, and teach the use of its traditional tool, a reed pen.

Then at 16:00 came a practical Japanese calligraphy workshop by Kaori Isidzima. Kaori studied calligraphy in Japan for over 20 years, and since 2009 she's been teaching this ancient art in Moscow. The workshop featured brush technique, the main elements of characters and a practice to write the character 和, which means Japan.

The day finished with an insightful talk by a talented calligrapher Svetlana Molodchenko about illuminated initials, where she spoke of illumination history and its specifics, process stages and materials. The talk was accompanied by a vast selection of illustrations.

Bilibin's Style Initial workshop Arabic calligraphy workshop Practical Japanese calligraphy workshop Illuminated initials talk