Calligraphy Traditions in Western New York

S D R O W G N I L A E P P Calligraphy Traditions in Western New York August 27, 201 7- June 3, 2018 A Artists Rosemary Lyons China, Jiannan continues to Rosemary Lyons is an artist practice a number of calligraphy and calligrapher, born and traditions, including creating a raised in Buffalo. Rosemary’s handwritten fú to display within passion for calligraphy and his home. the illuminated manuscript tradition fuses considerable Takako Fukuda Truskinovsky historical research, Takako Fukuda Truskinovsky is spontaneity, and inspiration a Japanese Calligrapher and Chief from dreams to create works Official of Educational Affairs at exploring a range of topics, the weekend Japanese Language including pressing social School, where she is also a former justice issues. teacher, held at the University of Buffalo. Takako learned Muhammad Z. Zaman calligraphy as a young child in Muhammad Zahin Zaman Aomori Prefecture and has a close is a contemporary calligrapher familial connection to calligraphy. and calligraffiti artist from She first started practicing Buffalo. After starting to learn calligraphy with her grandfather, traditional Arabic calligraphy, a noted tanka poet. Muhammad became interested in the free-form calligraffiti Toshie Kenney movement, and developed a Toshie Kenney is a master typeface drawing on a mixture My Country, My Home , 2017, Japanese Calligrapher ( shihan ), of traditional Arabic, Bangla, Muhammad Zahin Zaman, active member of the Japanese and English Calligraphy. acrylic on wood Group of Buffalo, and a lecturer in the Japanese Language Amjad Aref Program at University of Buffalo. Originally Amjad Aref first encountered calligraphy from Hyōgo Prefecture, Toshie grew up with as a child in Palestine, inspired by an calligraphy from a young age in Japan and elementary school language teacher who recently became a certified shihan . occasionally incorporated calligraphy into his classes. After a long intermission due to Aharon Baruch schooling, travel, and work, Amjad began Aharon Baruch is a sofer s’tam (scribe) and to practice Arabic calligraphy again around Hebrew Calligrapher based in Rochester, ten years ago, especially focused on mastering who creates and repairs both traditional the thuluth script. and contemporary works. Originally from Jerusalem, Aharon’s calligraphy draws on Jiannan Wu a range of topics relating to Judaism and Jiannan Wu is a Chinese Calligrapher and Jewish traditions, and is often accompanied an officer in the Chinese Club of Western by papercuts. New York. Originally from Guilin in Southern Appealin gWords Calligraphy Traditions in Western New York OMG , 2013, Rosemary Lyons, mixed medium Each orchestrated movement of the ink- In every character, word, and phrase, dipped brush leaves a wake of delicate calligraphy conveys meaning not only curls and precise edges — the rhythmic from its content but also from its form, dance of language mapped and adorned. presentation, and use. The intersection In every character’s twists and turns, of calligraphy with other traditions beginnings and endings, is the discerning intertwines subject and application to skill of the calligrapher. create and layer additional meaning, merging the message written with new Calligraphy — the art of writing — is a meaning generated from the new context. form of traditional art that can be found throughout the world in diverse cultural Appealing Words: Calligraphy Traditions and religious traditions. From the in Western New York introduces the illuminated manuscripts of medieval diverse calligraphy traditions practiced Ireland to an inverted 福 (fú ) written and in Western New York, including Japanese, displayed on Chinese New Year, to verses Chinese, Hebrew, Islamic, and Western stored within a mezuzah or a basmala on Calligraphy. Through exploring the a masjid wall, the melding of art and different materials, techniques, and uses language through the written word has of calligraphy across different traditions, long played a role in community life. Appealing Words highlights the combined pursuit of meaning through art and language. 1 Unfinished Page from Book of Hours, Prayers of Petition following Litany , Britain c. 1400, ink and gold leaf on vellum. Castellani Museum of Niagara University Collection, Gift of Rev. Msgr. Walter Kern, Niagara University, Our Lady of Angels Seminary Alumni, 1994 2 Western Calligraphy and Illuminations An illuminated manuscript refers to handwritten books decorated with a range of adornments including miniature illustrations and the application of gold or silver. From sparse illustrations to ornate borders, illuminated manuscripts were held in high regard and were highly labor intensive, often reflecting the wealth of the owner or commissioner. Popular through the early Middle Ages and into the Renaissance, the emergence of the printing press in the 15th century increasingly lessened demand for these handwritten works. Materials Rubric is a section of text written in red by A reed pen or quill the calligrapher, was the primary tool usually to highlight for writing the a specific passage calligraphy onto vellum: a high quality or word. parchment and the primary medium for Uses writing manuscripts. Illuminations were typically reserved Gold was central for religious works, to illuminations, though later on in reflecting the theology the tradition, secular and ideology around works were also the notion of light. occasionally Gold was applied illuminated. either through gilding gold leaf or burnishing A psalter is the gold specks. illuminated Book of Psalms, one of Colors play a the most popular significant role in illuminated illuminations, and the manuscripts. wide variety of natural Psalters were materials would be typically illuminated ground according to robustly and used the needs of the specific Page from Book of Hours, Personal Devotions , both for liturgy and illustrations or Salisbury, England, c. 1600, ink and gold leaf on vellum. Castellani Museum of Niagara University Collection, private devotion. calligraphy. Gift of Rev. Msgr. Walter Kern, Niagara University, Our Lady of Angels Seminary Alumni, 1994 Book of Hours are books Technique that contain a mix of prayers and writings Illuminated manuscripts were over the course of the tradition, that were meant to be read made primarily within including Insular, Romanesque, during the canonical hours. monasteries by monks for and Gothic. Book of Hours were a highly much of the Middle Ages. An initial is an over-sized letter, common illuminated Trends in decoration and usually used at the start of a manuscript, both among calligraphy developed sentence or section and often the clergy and laypeople. throughout Western Europe decorated with an image. 3 As the water covers the sea, your love covers me , 2017, Muhammad Zahin Zaman, acrylic on canvas. The heavily layered design of lettering emerged from experiments by the calligrapher to add further aesthetics to his typeface in a direction unique from other styles within the calligraffiti movement. The repeated writing of the same phrase provides a meditative and contemplative experience both for the calligrapher and the viewer. 4 Contemporary Interpretations of Traditional Calligraphy Contemporary calligraphers may draw from the structures, ideas, and rules within traditional calligraphy—but are not beholden to them. Rooted in their own vision, the contemporary calligrapher’s work navigates the space between tradition and innovation: experimenting with established forms and expectations to create new combinations, new works, and new meanings. Contemporary Calligraffiti Illuminations Calligraffiti refers to a A contemporary melding of calligraphy illumination is an and graffiti — a public interpretation of the mural of artistic illuminated manuscript writing used to tradition, drawing on communicate the structure and meaning. Within the designs found in their Arabic and Islamic calligraphy, adornment, Calligraphy traditions, and gilding. calligraffiti refers to new, more freeform Traditional aesthetic styles that do not forms of the illuminated strictly adhere to any manuscripts, including of the established miniature illustrations, scripts or their are either replicated or conventions. modernized: traditional depictions of vines and The scripts used in ivy may now border an calligraffiti typically ATM machine or image adapt concepts within of a major current event. the traditional Gold leaf remains repertoire—for September 11th, 2001 , 2003, Rosemary Lyons, mixed medium. an integral part example, how This illuminated manuscript contains a historiated of contemporary to proportion letter depicting the raising of a flag at Ground Zero and interlace illuminations, continuing by New York City Firefighters, accompanied by musical the thread of meanings in notation of the Star Spangled Banner , in Latin. characters—into adding light to a work. Musical notation was often found in illuminated new arrangements, manuscripts containing songs or chants. stretching or Like a puzzle played over moving beyond its centuries, contemporary conventional limits. illumination intersects the distant with the Other typographies, whether within the same familiar, pursuing and researching the links tradition or not, may also be incorporated, that connect the embedded meanings of older including the artists’ creation of their own script. calligraphy and illumination forms with the experiences and realities of contemporary life. Influences for the content of calligraffiti are wide- ranging, a mirror for the

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