2013 Programme
EVENT #24
Luca Barcellona
Calligraphy: creativity in writing
The term “calligraphy” evokes in every one of us a different image or recollection connected with the idea of “writing beautifully”. People often think it is an art of the past, an obsolete skill now that we are surrounded by digital devices that replace pens whenever we need to take notes or communicate in writing. Instead, the calligrapher’s art still exists. Though few have made it into a profession, writing is commonly used in graphic arts and in advertising in order to lend a personal, artistic character to logos, pictures or headings and to replace typographical fonts which appear more reproducible and cold. Luca Barcellona discusses the challenge of keeping calligraphy alive and takes us on a journey through picture of his work to show how writing can be an art form.
is a trained graphic artist and calligrapher. He currently teaches at the Italian Association of Calligraphers. His research focuses on lettering from typography to movable type printing, from classical to expressive and experimental calligraphy, to performances on large surfaces. Letters are a chief component of his creations, which bring together the manual skills of this ancient art and the knowledge of the languages, writing styles and tools of the digital era. Barcellona gives workshops and lectures all over the world: his lettering is in hot demand and his work has been exhibited in a number of galleries and museums of the world: Zurich, Milan, Melbourne, Sydney, The Hague, Prague. He created the calligraphy for the opening credits in the film Io sono l’amore by Luca Guadagnino (2009), mentioned by the New York Times as among the best in 2011. He recently published his first book, Take your pleasure seriously (Lazy Dog Press, 2012).
EVENT #18
Stefano Bartezzaghi, Massimo Recalcati
To inherit or to be creative? Art in the time of disoriented generations
