The Day of Slavic Writing at the Contemporary Museum of Calligraphy

On May 23^rd on the threshold of the All-Russian festival of Slavic Writing and Culture the Contemporary Museum of Calligraphy hosted the Day of Slavic Writing paying tribute to the developers of Cyrillic alphabet, SS. Cyril and Methodius.

A special educational programme entitled “Slavonic Writing. Origins, History, and Development” was prepared for the orphan children from the Moscow Orphanage #57 and for children from needy families being under trusteeship of the Voskresensk Comprehensive Secondary School #4. The children were shown a Discovery Channel documentary on the history of development of writing from clay tablets to high-end computers.

The first gates of perception

Professor Georgy Kozubov, PhD, member of the Russian Union of Artists, made a report concerning the ancient art of calligraphy.

Dmitry Zhilinsky, People’s Artist of Russia, prizewinner of the Iliya Repin State Art & Literature Award, full member of the Russian Academy of Arts, a special guest of the festival, told about the important role of writing in development of the world visual art.

Father Pavel Dorofeyev, Priest of the Church of St. Tikhon of Zadonsk, spoke on the important role of Orthodox Christianity in the origination and development of Slavic writing.

Dmitry Zhilinsky

Moscow graphic artist Yuri Koverdyayev and St. Petersburg calligraphy artist Tatyana Petrenko gave an exciting master class. The children had a chance to learn about the origination of writing in Old Russia, see various handwritten forms of the Cyrillic alphabet and try writing some letters in Uncial Cyrillic Book Hand. Some of them did it really well.

The children inspired by artistic work sharing their impressions during a tea party served by MVK International Exhibition Company.

We hope that next year the educational projects of the Contemporary Museum of Calligraphy prepared for the Days of Slavic Writing and Culture will become a part of the official programme of the Government of Moscow and the International Fund of Slavic Writing and Culture.

Source: Contemporary Museum of Calligraphy