The International Calligraphy Festival “Caligrafist”, the first of which was held only on Latin calligraphy in 2017, was opened this year after a five-year hiatus. This time, the festival came up with a broad concept that includes all the world's writings. With the participation of many local and foreign artists, “Kaligrafist”, which has been redesigned with the idea of reaching and promoting different writing cultures to wider audiences, will host many activities such as performances, workshops for both adults and children, field trips and interviews, as well as a writing culture exhibition. Festival venues will be IBB Taş Oda - Sultanahmet, Barın Han, İBB Neighborhood Houses, Historical Peninsula Writing Route, Karaköy Beach Park and Karaköy Istanbul Bookstore.
Calligrapher Curator Erhan Olcay noted that they included not only Latin calligraphy but all world writings in the festival selection, "Our festival was opened with the participation of 110 artists with an exhibition of nearly 100 works. Works from 30 different countries were collected. From Hebrew to Mongolian calligraphy, from cuneiform to Cyrillic. It was an exhibition where we used many writing systems, from calligraphy to the alphabet for the visually impaired, to the musical alphabet." he said.
For the details of the festival program, which will be held free of charge, you can visit the "İBB Culture and Art" and "Kaligrafist" social media accounts.
