Opening: Beyond Tradition

Marina Soria from Argentina creates calligraphies that are based on historical textiles from South America in terms of color and texture. She will be exhibiting these together with the traditional weavings. Izzy Pludwinski from Israel will be showing calligraphy that draws on the tradition of Hebrew calligraphy and looks at it from a contemporary perspective. Wissam Shawkat from Iraq, who now lives in the United Arab Emirates, is showing works from his series Kalligraforms. He creates calligraphies with Arabic characters, which he then cuts up and reassembles. This gives rise to fascinating new forms that are reminiscent of characters, but break them again and again through the cuts. American-born Brody Neuenschwander, who has lived in Belgium for many years, challenges the medium of calligraphy on several levels, approaching scriptural and conceptual art. He does not transpose existing texts, but creates his own in the process of writing, which refer to current social issues. He combines his calligraphy with painting and typography and integrates historical writings and prints as collages. The four positions can be seen in four exhibition rooms on the upper floor of the Museum of Writing.