The Contemporary Museum of Calligraphy celebrated its 1st anniversary

Among the gifts there is a royal one: a World Famous Mezuzah, the only chef d’oeuvre of sacred Hebrew calligraphy listed into the Guinness World Records thanks to its size; it was made two years ago in Israel, was stored in a private collection and now it is brought to Moscow.

The Contemporary Museum of Calligraphy, one of the youngest of its type, celebrated its 1st anniversary.

Among gifts there is a royal one, a one-of-a-kind chef d’oeuvre of sacred calligraphy Mezuzah has been listed in the Guinness Book of Records 2009 as the largest Mezuzah ever written in the world; it was made two years ago in Israel, was stored in a private collection and now it is have been brought to Moscow, for permanent residence.

The World Famous Mezuzah, a text consisting of 713 letters of the Hebrew alphabet, including excerpts from the Pentateuch, was brought to Moscow. But it was not shown! It turned out to be impossible to open it and take it out of the case!

Alexey Shaburov, Director of the Contemporary Museum of Calligraphy:
A mezuzah has to be executed with a special technique, only a professional is able to write the mezuzah. A computer system examines the mezuzah; it has a special certificate then. It is a spiritual, sacred text. It has to be executed properly. The letters are kosher, like kosher food and all the rest.

Thus to discover the technique and judge the titanic work the calligrapher Avraham Borshevsky has made is possible only by photographs. Traditionally, a written mezuzah is placed in a special case and is attached on the right side of the door in every Jewish house. It protects its inhabitants and gives a blessing to everyone stepping inside. The museum of calligraphy has not yet found a suitable door for such a big canvas — 76 cm wide and 94 cm long. Most likely, the manuscript will be stored in a showcase like other exhibits. Among the gifts from Jordan, India, and Pakistan there is another relic: an exclusive decorated, handwritten National Anthem of the Russian Federation. Silvio Berlusconi presented this exclusive edition to Dmitry Medvedev at the G8 summit. A masterpiece was created in the best national traditions by a Russian calligrapher Yevgeny Drobyazin.

Yevgeny Drobyazin, calligrapher:
It is hard to work with Russian font in general. Because for many years it was a common opinion that writing exists, but it is not being written. And because The Ostromir Gospels was entirely drawn, including the letters.

The museum is only one year old, but it already has a solid collection of 1300 exhibits: a huge number of techniques representing Arabic, Japanese, and Slavic schools; each artwork is unique. A part of this collection has been created today by Chinese, Korean, and Russian artists in front of an audience: in the genre of calligraphic improvisations accompanied with classical music.

Today the Mezuzah and the other unique gifts were showcased only for one hour.

All comers will get to see them this autumn at the world’s largest 2nd International Exhibition of Calligraphy, which will take place in Sokolniki from October 14th to November 14th, 2009. Maybe the sacred scroll will be unrolled as an exception.

Source: TVC channel website

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