Exhibition Run Dates :: June 7 – August 31, 2019
Curator :: Arash Shirinbab
Location :: San Francisco Center for the Book, 375 Rhode Island Street, San Francisco, CA. 94103
Opening reception :: Friday, June 7, 2019, 6-8pm (Remarks @ 7pm)
Join SFCB in celebrating the artists and work of Calligraphies In Conversation: An Exhibition of Multicultural Calligraphy. Featuring artists’ books, calligraphic works, and wall pieces highlighting international calligraphic traditions. Light hors d’oeuvres and wine will be served. Multicultural calligraphy demonstrations will take place throughout the evening.
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left: opening reception, June 7, 2019 :: right: work installed in the gallery
About the exhibition :: Calligraphies in Conversation: An Exhibition of Multicultural Calligraphy encompasses an annual group exhibition and a series of public programs with the intention to bring diverse communities of the Bay Area together to share their culture and stories through the art of writing and calligraphy. This innovative exhibition, curated by Arash Shirinbab and local artists, focuses on initiating a meaningful conversation between different cultures, languages, and scripts existed in local communities and beyond.
We commonly hear about examples--in the present and throughout history--of people creating physical, social, political, and religious boundaries intended to separate and divide; however, it is vitally important to create and raise awareness of the many instances of people crossing these boundaries to engage with each other and celebrate a shared humanity. Calligraphies in Conversation encompasses an annual group exhibition and a series of public venues with the intention to bring diverse communities of the Bay Area together to share their culture and stories through the art of writing and calligraphy. Curated by Arash Shirinbab and local artists since 2014, this exhibition focuses on initiating a meaningful conversation between different cultures, languages, and scripts existed in local communities and beyond.
In a multicultural region such as the Bay Area, there are ever more and more communities who wish to explore the way another culture thinks, speaks, prays, reads, and writes. If we think an intercultural conversation would be something worthwhile, quite often we must create special circumstances in which two or more members of the human family, who have hitherto remained largely ignorant about the other or others, cross these boundaries and suddenly find themselves placed in the same room, with a mediating voice encouraging them to speak. This is what Calligraphies in Conversation intends to do: Having different calligraphic artworks, languages, and scripts in one exhibition provides an opportunity for a broad conversation and the viewers will have a clear view of differences and similarities of those arts. Such viewing combinations are unique and will bring the public’s consideration to shared features: different calligraphic cultures highlight the power of the written word via inscribing it artistically.
Featured Artists :: Tung Ho :: Thomas Ingmire :: Kristian Kabuay :: Mok Kam Cheung :: Forrest Lesch-Middelton :: Ronald Y. Nakasone :: Renee Owen :: Achyut Palav :: Pamela Rickard :: Amol Saraf :: Arash Shirinbab :: Naomi Teplow :: Leesette Turner :: Andrea Wunderlich :: Gori Yusuf Husen
Exhibition Catalog :: A fully illustrated catalog of this exhibition will be available for purchase from San Francisco Center for the Book. Purchase a copy here...
Exhibition Sponsors :: Grants For The Arts | San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund | The Kahle Austin Foundation | The Zellerbach Family Foundation | Anonymous
Related programs for this exhibition ::
Calligraphies In Conversation : To Contain and To Serve (please note: this event has passed.)
Date: Friday, August 30, 2019, 6:00 - 8:00 pm
Join us for the closing reception for SFCB's summer exhibition Calligraphies In Conversation. Curator Arash Shirinbab and ceramicist Forest Lesch-Middelton will be on hand to discuss their artistic collaboration; attendees are invited to enjoy traditional Persian cuisine served on artisan ceramic dishware created by Lesch-Middelton and Shirinbab; at the end of the event, attendees keep the dishware which they have used for their dinner.
Calligraphies In Conversation : Artists in Discussion (please note: this event has passed.)
Date: Friday, July 12, 2019, 6:00 - 8:00 pm (Discussion begins at 6:30 pm)
Join curator Arash Shirinbab and Calligraphies in Conversation artists for an evening of stories and inspiration. Local calligraphers will be on hand to discuss their work in detail; attendees will experience the exuberance and rich history represented by various calligraphic traditions.