The Art of Calligraphy as the Reflection of Human Culture

Russian calligraphers have created the first handwritten copy of the Constitution of the Russian Federation. According to them, 120 pages of the Russian Constitution were designed by the ancient method of manual casting using old rags. The words are written with ink which was made of various plant roots.

According to the participants of the presentation of the handwritten Constitution of the Russian Federation, which was held in Moscow in the framework of the International Exhibition of Calligraphy, the art of calligraphy is the reflection of inner human culture.

“It is very important to restore the art of handwriting”, says Aleksey Shalashov, Director of Moscow State Academic Philharmonics. According to him, at our computerized era it is necessary “to popularize calligraphy at schools and thus improve the significance of the Russian language”.

“Beauty of a person is a beauty of his handwriting”, said Nikolai Taranov, DSc (education), PhD (arts), Professor, member of the Russian Union of Artists. He believes, the purity of a person is in purity of his soul.

Aleksey Shaburov, Director of the Contemporary Museum of Calligraphy highly praised the art of calligraphy. “Studying the culture and traditions of the nation one can acquire proficiency, there is no development of calligraphy without it”, said he. “What is calligraphy at first sight? It is a pen, paper, expression of will, whereas it is an eminent art”, says Mr. Shaburov.

Chen Wen-Fu, the calligrapher from China, member of the Chinese scientific union of paired signs, continuator of the great dynasty of Chinese calligraphers, reminded that calligraphy is an ancient Chinese art. He said that calligraphy is not only beautiful handwriting of letters on paper. He believes, a master of calligraphy must be self-improving all the time. Only then his work will make a genuine piece of art which will be able to fully reflect the interior of an artist.

Director General of the Rare Book from St. Petersburg publishing house Petr Suspitsyn emphasized the фасе that at present time they are preparing to publish the famous Russian epic poem The Tale of Igor’s Campaign which will be designed in a calligraphic style and, as he put it, will “allow making the Old Slavonic script closer to us”. He also added the book will be printed manually on presses of the 19th century using the original illustrations.

The International Exhibition of Calligraphy will take place on September 16-21 in St. Petersburg. It will showcase the art works of the most prominent calligraphers from Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine. The project aims at reviving the abandoned art of calligraphy in Russia, make it widely available and create conditions for its development. 

Source: The Epoch Times, international informational project