Ditchling Museum, Sussex, 7 April - 10 June 2001 and then touring, regularly updated information on www.letteringtoday.co.uk
The exhibition is part of the three-year programme, Lettering Today and Tomorrow, organised by Ditchling Museum and the Edward Johnston
Foundation, with funds from the National Lottery through the Arts Council of England.
Four lettering artists from China, Japan, the Arab world and the West
have been selected to create an exhibition with an intensely dramatic visual impact.
The work ranges from the ceramic vessels of Algerian Rashid Koraichi inscribed with pictograms based on Berber scripts to the minimalist compositions of one of Japan's most senior woman calligraphers, Toko Shinoda. The younger generation of Chinese calligraphers is represented by Zhao yizhou, while the great diversity of response in the West will be shown through new work by the American Thomas Ingmire. The show is curated by British calligrapher Ewan Clayton, whose work is also included and co-ordinated by Timothy Wilcox.
There is a lively programme of events, including demonstrations on 7 April and 4 May. On Monday 28 May Zen calligrapher Kazuaki Tanahashi will present an all-day public performance in Ditchling, giving a personal view of the development of the world's writing systems. Kaz is also holding a two workshop in Ditchling that weekend.
