Calligraphy Fest goes to Tbilisi

On April 14 Georgia is celebrating the Day of the Georgian Language. On this day the prizewinners of calligraphy contests were named at the Georgian National Centre of Manuscripts. Both prizewinners and category winners were announced.

The Georgian Calligraphy Contest was started in February 2010 by Georgian Ministry of Education and Science, the Georgian National Centre of Manuscripts and the TSAMI nongovernmental organization.

The contest aims at developing the culture of writing among pupils and revealing their creativity. All the 5-12 grade pupils in Georgian schools, and immigrants took part in this contest.

The contest jury board included, among artists and fine art experts, three calligraphers: Yelena Machavariani – research officer of the Georgian National Centre of Manuscripts, she has a 50-years experience in researching and copying ancient manuscripts; Lasha Kintsurashvili – icon painter, and Levan Chaganava – calligrapher, Chairman of the Union of Calligraphy Artists of Georgia, participant of the International Exhibition of Calligraphy who reports the events.

So, the holiday began. In the first round the contestants were supposed to make a handwritten text of no less than 100 words.

Organizers have received more than 10,000 artworks from all over Georgia, and also from Turkey, Iran, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Russia, USA, and Europe.

The jury had to go into deliberation four times to choose the best work. Finally they chose 290 contestants who were invited to Tbilisi for the second and third rounds.

The second round of the contest took place on March 12 at the Georgian National Centre of Manuscripts. Now, the rivals were to write an original manuscript within three hours by copying a printed text, and then decorating it with drop caps and such stuff.

All they were equipped with to give birth to a chef d’oeuvre were a pencil, a ruler, an eraser and a pair of capillary pens – red and black.

It suddenly turned out the Organizers had complicated the task without any notice to the jury. Now the contestants had not only to copy a printed text, but also to imitate a medieval manuscript style.

The jury was trying to protest, but the children happened to do the task easily. The “storm” slackened.

Well, a combination of a capillary pen and a 160 gram paper lived up to all expectations and everything was all right. Moreover, the children perfectly used the special paper properties to show the beauty of the Georgian script. The inks lay well on the mat surface that helped the contestants to easily vary thickness of lines.

What wonderful art works they are! It is a truly great pleasure to watch a child’s thought appearing and materializing on paper, the pen sliding along the paper guided by the young creator’s fragile fingers. Organizers were trying not to interfere with the creation process. Here are some photos depicting the lively moments:

The third round was held on March 29, 118 young masters participating. Their job was to copy an ancient manuscript imitating the style and skills of an ancient writer, and to keep the general composition of the document. And that was no easy task either! The jury voted several times, but with one and the same result. In the end, there are two second place winners in the senior group. All in all there were seven prizewinners including the younger group.

And at last the absolute winner was announced. The winners were given valuable prizes from the Georgian Ministry of Education and Science, Georgian National Centre of Manuscripts, the TSAMI nongovernmental organization, the Union of Calligraphy Artists of Georgia and some commercial organizations. Among the winners were immigrant children and Georgian citizens.

The Union of Calligraphy Artists of Georgia was represented by Lasha Kintsurashvili – a miniaturist widely known as an icon painter – who awarded the winners their prizes. They also received presents from Yelena Machavariani, an honorable member of the Union of Calligraphy Artists of Georgia, PhD (Art History).

The contest artworks are now showcased at the Georgian National Centre of Manuscripts for ten days testifying to the children’s love for their homeland scripts.

Levan Chaganava writes: “Well, the children did it excellently. We are proud of our successors. We are happy and sure the next generation will step masterfully in the beautiful and mysterious world of Georgian calligraphy.”

Yes, Georgia has a reason to be happy and proud. We heartily congratulate our Georgian colleagues.

After Levan Chaganava’s reports
Photo: Levan Chaganava

Contest video: http://www.youtube.com/chaganava#p/a/u/0/1ZRcOQ2G59A