Sulekhan 2021National Conference on Calligraphy

World Calligraphy Day is celebrated every year on the second Wednesday of August to promote Calligraphy. It allows experts and beginners to come together to discuss, practice, and learn about the art of calligraphy. Joining the celebration, the Typography Society of India, along with our partners are organizing Sulekhan 2021 as a one day event, to be held on 11th August 2021 from 4.00 PM to 7.30 PM IST. The program will be streamed live on YouTube. Attendees will get a chance to interact with the panelists during the panel discussion.

The program is organised by a committee led by Prof G.V. Sreekumar comprising of Narayana Bhattathiri, George K. Paul, Hiral Bhagat, Dilbag Singh and Prajwal Xavier.

Watch Dilbag Singh create the Sulekhan 2021 logo

Speakers

We are fortunate to have some of the best calligraphers in the country to share their knowledge and insights with us.

Achyut R. Palav

Achyut Palav, one of the foremost names in Indian calligraphy today, has brought traditional and modern calligraphy to the masses through his exhibitions and workshops in India and abroad. Mumbai-born, he received a diploma from Sir J.J. Institute of Applied Art in 1982, specializing in lettering, typography and calligraphy. His calligraphic works are exhibited in Stiftung Archives, Germany and the Contemporary Museum of Calligraphy, Moscow.

G V Sreekumar

G V Sreekumar is a professor and former head of IDC, IIT Bombay. An alumnus of IDC, IIT Bombay, he is the founder-president of Typography Society of India. Apart from typography and calligraphy, he specialises in publication design, information graphics, logo design and design pedagogy. He has led workshops in several international fora including the recently concluded Atypi conference in the US.

Poosapati Parameshwar Raju

Poosapati Parameshwar Raju is a highly acclaimed artist and calligrapher. His work traverses traditional and contemporary terrains. A Masters in Applied Art from BAM University, Aurangabad, he has 30 years of research experience in iconography, signs, and symbols inherent in the Indian ceremonial culture. Felicitated with numerous awards and scholarships, his exhaustive work in calligraphy includes several books. His works are displayed at the Museum of Sacred Art, Brussels, among others.

Narayana Bhattathiri

Narayana Bhattathiri is one of the calligraphic giants of India. A graduate of College of Fine Arts, Trivandrum, he was the first person in Kerala to be designated as a calligrapher. For more than four decades, he practised and excelled in calligraphic presentation of the Malayalam alphabet. He received the Jikji Excellence Award in International Calligraphy in 2017, 2018 and 2020. His work is showcased in Calligraphers in Conversation San Francisco and the Calligraphy Stone Park in Herbin, China.

Inku Kumar

Inku Kumar is a self-taught artist who works in varied media and tools of calligraphy. He received his MFA in Applied Art from the College of Art, Delhi. After working seven years as a graphic designer in ESPN Star Sports, he established his own institute called CALLIART and worked with many recognized brands. When not making art, he can be found conducting workshops on calligraphy.

Dilbag Singh

A graduate from NIFT, Kangra, Dilbag Singh is one of the most creative and innovative calligraphers of the current generation. A fashion designer and design consultant, he has worked in fashion design, graphic designing and calligraphy. His huge following on Instagram is regularly treated to his delightful calligraphic experiments and innovations. The symbol and logo of Sulekhan conference is designed by him.

Santosh Kshirsagar

Prof Santosh Kshirsagar, Dean of Sir J. J. Institute of Applied Art, Mumbai is a renowned Academician, Calligrapher, Designer, Writer and Poet. Amongst his most noted works are fonts in Gujarati and Oriya designed for Microsoft Windows XP, which were the first of their kind in the OTT (OpenType Font) format. He is Co-Founder of "Aksharaya", an NGO devoted to letterform-based design, calligraphy and related issues. An alumnus of Sir JJ College, Prof Santosh’s calligraphic works are exhibited in many parts of the world. He completed his PhD from IDC, IIT Bombay on “Devanagari handwriting primitives and its effect on handwriting acquisition”.

Tarun Deep Girdher

Prof. Tarun is Principal Designer and Activity Chairperson, Education at National Institute of Design (NID) Ahmedabad. Prof Tarun specializes in Type Design, Typography, Calligraphy, Publication Design and Printing technology. He has played a significant role in establishing the print lab at NID Ahmedabad. Prof Tarun is also the co-founder of Typography Society of India. He has also designed over thirty logos including Right to Information, and None of The Above (NOTA) for the Government of India. His Logos for the Cluster University of Jammu and Srinagar have been awarded in the 9th WOLDA 2018.

Hiral Bhagat

A calligrapher in many languages, Hiral Bhagat has studied in Achyut Palav School of Calligraphy. Hiral has done Applied Art and has worked as a Graphic Designer in Mumbai and Ahmedabad. She has conducted many workshops on calligraphy including one at Atypi conference in the US in 2020. Her work was selected in events such as Calligraphies in Conversations in San Francisco, Tool Art-National Library of Singapore, Cheongju Jikji World Calligraphy Exhibition, South Korea.

Akshaya S Thombre

Akshaya S Thombre taught calligraphy at Achyut Palav School of Calligraphy and is a visiting faculty at several institutes such as I.E.S. College of Architecture, Rachna Sansad, MGM University College of Fine Arts in Aurangabad. She has had a solo calligraphy exhibition at Nehru Centre, Mumbai. Her work was displayed at the 5th annual International Exhibition 2018 Oakland California.

George K Paul

George specialises in Information Design, Data Visualisation, Instructional Design and Typography. He is based in Changanassery, Kerala and is a visiting faculty and jury member at many design institutes including his alma mater: IDC School of Design, IIT Bombay.

Prajwal Xavier

Prajwal Xavier, a B.Tech in electronics and communication, is a passionate, self-taught calligrapher who loves experimenting with calligraphy in Indian scripts and conducts workshops and classes on Calligraphy. His works were exhibited in Asia’s Best Calligraphers & Artists Showcase Singapore (ABCASS) in 2019. Prajwal was one of the organisers of “KaChaTaThaPa”, the first national Calligraphy festival held in Kerala and curated by Narayana Bhattathiri in 2019.

Program Schedule

Time (IST)	Event
4.00 to 4:10 PM	Introduction: G.V. Sreekumar
4:10 to 4:15 PM	Inauguration: Achyut Palav
4:15 to 4:30 PM	Keynote Address: Parameshwar Raju
4:30 to 5.05 PM	Screening of video on calligraphy of First letter of various scripts by 100 calligraphers across the globe, directed by Narayana Bhattathiri
5:10 to 5:30 PM	Calligraphy Demonstration by Achyut Palav
5:30 to 5:50 PM	Calligraphy Demonstration by Inku Kumar
5:50 to 6:10 PM	Calligraphy Demonstration by Narayana Bhattathiri
6:10 to 6:30 PM	Calligraphy Demonstration by Dilbag Singh
6:30 to 7:30 PM	“Sulekhan Vidya”: Panel discussion on Calligraphy-Education and Practice: Achyut Palav, Santosh Kshirsagar, Narayana Bhattathiri, Tarun Deep Girdher, G V Sreekumar, Hiral Bhagat. Moderated by Akshaya Thombre.