OREANDA-NEWS. On 03 April 2008 was announced, that on March 31 - April 1 Aleksey Shaburov, the Head of the International Calligraphic Exhibition, and his team visited St Petersburg. 

On September 16-21, 2008 the city will welcome the project aimed at the specialists and as well as the general public. The main purpose of the meeting was signing the rental contract with the owner of the exhibition ground. It is the State Scientific Institution Research and Development museum of the Russian Academy of Arts located within the walls of the well-known State Academic Institute of painting, sculpture and architecture n.a. Iliya Repin, 17 Universitetskaya Embankment.

The idea of the Exhibition being organized at this institute was supported by its President, Albert Charkin, and its alumnus, People’s Artist of the USSR, Iliya Bogdesko. He warmly welcomed the Calligraphic Exhibition team and its initiator. Iliya Bogdesko granted some of his works to be exhibited in the framework of the International Calligraphic Exhibition. He was embarrassed with the proposal to participate in another MVK social project: Our Victory. (When a young man Iliya Bogdesko went to the front and saw service in the Command staff of the Ural military district). At the end of the meeting Iliya Bogdesko gave a short interview which will be included in the film about the project.

Meeting with Nikolai Nikolaev, Doctor of Linguistics, Head of the Department of rare books, Russian National Library n.a. Caltykov-Shcedrin, was no less exciting.  The unique collection of rare books kept in the library can be partially exhibited. Realizing the project’s significance, Nikolai Nikolaev promised he would try to participate in the project. We hope that due to this cooperation the visitors of the International Calligraphic Exhibition will be able to see the masterpieces of hand writing. 

During the meeting with Valery Slezin, Professor, Doctor of Biology, Head of the laboratory of neuropsychophysiology of St Petersburg Research and development Psychoneurological Institute n.a. Bekhterev, the project acquired some of significant aspects. Calligraphy influences artistic perception and development of minor brain processes. Aleksey Shaburov drew out the plan on mutual studies of this aspect in the project’s framework.

However, the meetings were not over.  The team got an opportunity to meet Petr Chobitiko, who granted his recently published Azbukovnik to the fund of the Exhibition, and Dmitry Petrovsky who spoke about the difficulties of calligraphers’ training. Andrei Kostrov granted his collection of writing utensils.