Pointed pen to open calligraphy centre in Biysk Orthodox school

Teachers and students of the Orthodox school in Biysk are about to take part in a social projects contest run by Alexander Prokopyev's Foundation. If they win a grant, a calligraphy centre will be opened in the school.

The building that today houses the Orthodox school used to host catechetical school in the past. Two centuries ago future priests would master calligraphy here, rewrite religious books and translate books of the offices into Altaic. Many years later calligraphy can be seen again within these walls, yet today students do it.

Very few people have a skill in this rare art. The only place to learn it in Altai region is the Orthodox school in Biysk. The Old Russian writing has been introduced in Novosibirsk educational institutions lately and teachers have visited Biysk to adopt relevant methods. The Orthodox school teachers do field workshops in other cities – another seminar is scheduled to be held soon in Rubtsovsk.

The idea of creating the calligraphy centre in the school was born after the last year exhibition dubbed The Image and the Letter, which featured artworks by the best calligraphy artists from Saint-Petersburg, and workshops. This is when the teachers first contemplated a special equipped calligraphy classroom for the school.

“Calligraphy is the art of fine writing”, says Nikolay Afonin, school director. “It serves your mind, will and senses at the same time. In other words, practicing calligraphy fosters swift intellectual development, shapes aesthetical sense and shows to tell nuances and details”.

Teachers note that children who regularly attend calligraphy classes possess notable creative skills. It is believed one year of studying the fine writings equals to 5 years of painting. Outstanding performance of the school’s students at creative and scientific contests serves as a proof to that. Calligraphy is introduced as early as the 2nd grade where the students are taught Vyaz as the simplest manner of writing. Ball pen is not a good fit for it, and students equip themselves with special tools.

“They will use a variety of tools”, says painting and calligraphy teacher Anastasiya Shipilova. “We start with a very basic tool one can hand make – you have to tape two pencils with a duct tape, which gives you a two-dimensional writing or a double line. Then we proceed to flat brush and introduce broad pen in the 3rd grade”.

If the Orthodox school’s project wins the contest, anyone will get a chance to master brush or pen. It is planned to establish several study groups in the calligraphy centre to adopt various ages – as young as 4-year-old will be able to join.

Pointed pen to open calligraphy centre in Biysk Orthodox school

Source: biwork.ru