Calligraphers from the Sharp-pointed Nib Association talked to MGIMO students

On the last day of their Moscow stay, all delegates of the Sharp-pointed Nib Calligraphy Association visited MGIMO and held a fascinating workshop for the university’s future sinologists. Alexey Alexakhin, Doctor of Philology, Professor and Head of the MGIMO Department of Chinese, Vietnamese, Laotian and Thai Languages, accompanied the delegation.

When Chairman of the People’s Republic of China, Xi Jinping, visited the Russian Federation for the first time in 2013, he met with the principal of MGIMO, Anatoly Torkunov, had a talk with students and spoke to the department staff. Alexey Alexakhin supported all the meetings, translating.

Xi Jinping talks to Anatoly Torkunov, Alexey Alexakhin translates.

Guided by Alexey Shaburov, Director of the Contemporary Museum of Calligraphy, the delegation visited the Museum of MGIMO History, which is equipped and maintained through a MGIMO alumnus’s efforts. Next year the Association of MGIMO Alumni will support The Great Chinese Calligraphy and Painting exhibition, which was presented on December 14 in front of partners and organizers of the project.

Zhang Huaqing, Chairman of the Sharp-pointed Nib All-China Calligraphy Association, noted that good neighbourly relations were discussed during the presentation of this new project. He stressed that calligraphy can play a special part in aligning our countries, as it embeds the depth and philosophy of China.

These days China celebrates the 60th anniversary of the Chinese alphabet, a milestone in the history of Chinese civilization.

A speech made by a space pilot, Sergey Ryazansky, at the presentation of the forthcoming exhibition, inspired Alexakhin to an artistic epigraph for his book “Alphabet of Chinese Putonghua”: “A Middle Chinese hieroglyph, bewinged with letters, heads for the future and for the world, for the informational space of the universe,” he wrote.

Alexey Shaburov noted that in September 2019 the exhibition would feature an extensive educational programme, which opens up great opportunities for students concerning linguistic experience. Alexey Alexakhin, the workshop moderator, spoke in favour of this opportunity too. From the looks one could judge how greatly a contemporary art trend – painting involving calligraphy symbols – impacts the youth.

Workshop demonstration. Moderator: Alexey Alexakhin

Xiong Jieying, Alexey Alexakhin, Zhang Huaqing, Alexey Shaburov, Li Bin, Li Quimei Alexey Alexakhin and Zhang Huaqing, Deputy Chairman of the Association Li Bin (right), Executive Director Xiong Jieying (left)

Chairman of the Sharp-pointed Nib Association Zhang Huaqing (left) and Professor of the Chinese, Vietnamese, Laotian and Thai Languages Department Alexey Alexakhin Alphabet of Chinese Putonghua textbook by Alexey Alexakhin, designed to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Chinese alphabet (2018)

Group photo. Delegates from the Sharp-pointed Nib All-China Calligraphy Association with MGIMO’s Department of Chinese, Vietnamese, Laotian, and Thai Languages students and faculty members