The international conference on Body and Spirit in Writing in the East and the West has been organised with the aim of exploring the relations between the intangibility of thought and its transformation into a visual, written and intelligible matter. This will be done by considering the differences and interactions between various forms of writing and by highlighting the relationship between types of thought and forms of communication in different cultural contexts (especially in Asia and Europe). In this case the conference will begin by looking at writing in its most suggestive material manifestation – calligraphy.

In the European tradition, calligraphy makes use of abstract symbols which basically refer to phonetic expression. To a large extent this process is also found in the calligraphy of Islamic and Indian languages. In the Far East, on the other hand, calligraphy takes on a more material aspect, not so much because there is a strong visual component binding the written sign to an object or a concept, but because calligraphy and image are very often merged in both art and literature and especially in painting on religious themes.

The first day of the conference will be dedicated to the exploration of the borderline areas between thought and writing, the spiritual and corporeal, and the tangible and intangible in non-Western cultural traditions: i.e. Islam from the point of view of the spiritual hermeneutics of the Arabic alphabet; and the Far East through an analysis of the rhythmic, formal and material features of calligraphy and of Japanese art.

The theme on the second day is the relationship between writing and the spirit seen as a place with a religious, imaginative and creative dimension. The morning session will deal with the forms this relationship has taken in the past and present in the West, while the afternoon will be dedicated to a description of the technological and spiritual development of Chinese writing, starting from bone carvings to arrive at contemporary free interpretations using pixels.

The third and last day will focus on an analysis of contemporary forms of calligraphic inventions. In the morning session two leading Japanese and Italian graphics artists will compare their calligraphic visions, while in the afternoon some experts on Jungian psychoanalysis and contemporary arts will attempt to give fresh meanings to the experience of calligraphy.

To meet the need to create an interaction between intellectual reflection and aesthetic experience, during the three days of the conference there will be practical demonstrations and artistic performances aimed at highlighting the creative and generating power involved in that typically human action of writing.

The conference is open to the public.
The official conference languages are Italian and English.
There will only be translations from these two.

For further info
Fondazione Giorgio Cini
Isola di San Giorgio Maggiore
30124 Venezia
tel. +39 041 2710402
fax +39 041 525238540
e-mail info@cini.it