SHODŌ CALLIGRAPHY WORKSHOP

We are happy to announce the second Shodō (書道) calligraphy workshop, hosted by The Feuerle Collection, and held by Okinawan artist and calligrapher Sugano Matsusaki, on June 12, 2024, as a part of our program of activities curated by Désiré Feuerle, and dedicated to young Berlin based Asian artists.

The first sold-out workshop in January this year focused on the creation of a good luck Kakizome (書き初め), a character containing a new year’s resolution or wish for 2024, and it generated a high demand for a continuation.

This time, the workshop will focus on the discovery of seasonal beauty through the reading of Haiku (俳句) poems ––a form of traditional Japanese poetry with three verses –– and on studying and reproducing their particular style of writing, which is curvy, airy, and gentle. Through this workshop, participants will be invited to experience how Shodō techniques can transmit the mood of certain words onto paper.

The class is suitable for beginners as well as for intermediate-level practitioners. Participants will produce their own calligraphy piece.

Shodō is a writing practice originating in China during the Tang dynasty (618 AD – 906 AD), which was brought to Japan by Zen monks, and deeply influenced Japanese calligraphy. Ever since, it has kept continuously evolving, also thanks to the consistent exchanges between the Chinese and the Japanese world, and it still plays a significant role in several contemporary cultures.
Sho stands for ‘writing’ and do for a ‘path’ –– more precisely, ‘the path of devoting oneself to one thing’. In fact, the dedication to the process of learning represents one the most important aspects of its philosophy.

For Sugano Matsusaki’s shodō workshop, The Feuerle Collection will provide the participants with all essential writing materials, and tools: Paper, brush, ink and ink pond, the so called bungu-shiho, ‘four treasures of stationery’ (文具四宝). Sayu tea (白湯), the traditional boiled water will also be served.

Sugano Matsusaki is a calligrapher from Okinawa, Japan, with 25 years of experience. She learned from Mr. Seian Morishima and Mr. Shuseki Ogawa, and she has been exploring her own calligraphy based on traditional techniques. She traces the lines of legendary Chinese and Japanese calligraphers in history, striving to recreate their perfect line and timeless beauty. Through intensive and repetitive transcribing, she engages in an intimate dialogue between history and herself. She embraces the philosophy that the pursuit of perfect beauty and line are fundamental aspects of calligraphy, also recognizing that a unique movement of the ink emerges through the brushwork’s imperfections and idiosyncrasies.