Massimo Polello: To preserve the art – not craft – of calligraphy

December 7, 2016

Calligraphy, says Italian master Massimo Polello, is less about lettering and more about rhythm. "Because when you are writing, you move your body in a different way, it's a rhythmic movement."

He also believes calligraphy is the most accessible artform. For most people, there comes a point in their childhood when they lose the ability to draw - or the interest. But Polello is adamant: everyone needs to do something creative, adults and children, and almost every adult can write. "Calligraphy is something you can use instead of drawing," he says.

Polello, who lives and works in the northern Italian city of Turin, is a celebrated contemporary calligrapher. He teaches classes around the world, from South Africa to South America, has worked with British director Peter Greenaway and exhibits his work internationally.

This time in Australia, his free composition workshop will explore concepts of space. "It is about emptiness and fullness," he says, looking at the differences between western and eastern artistic tradition. Western culture, he says, sees white space as negative but in eastern cultures, empty space is the most important element. "We start from filling the space, they start to empty the space," he says.

His calligraphic career has developed over years, after studying graphic and fine arts and restoring frescos for a living. Calligraphy was his side interest, having been fascinated by lettering from childhood, but gradually, as he studied at a calligraphy school in France and began to form his own distinctive style, it became his profession. Known for his bold experimental work, he has started using syringes filled with ink instead of brushes and pens, and likes to paint on recycled materials.

Two years ago, one of London's leading commercial art galleries mounted a solo exhibition of his work, but calligraphy is still often considered a craft rather than fine art. Polello used to lobby for its status as an artform, but these days prefers to let the work speak for itself. "I don't mind now," he says, laughing. "I don't want to explain everything."

He worries the skill of cursive writing, which has been shown to encourage creativity in children, is being lost, with schools increasingly using keyboards and ipads. He teaches calligraphy to a group of "chaotic" 8 to 11-year-olds, and is struck by how calm they become once they get to work. "Calligraphy projects you into another world, a quiet world," he says. "A sort of meditation."

In the end, he says, calligraphy is about playing.

"The same way dancers play with movement and rhythm, or musicians play with notes, we play with letters. Exactly the same."