The Art of Korean Calligraphy
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Rabu, 5 Maret 2014 00:30 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The art of calligraphy is not exclusive to China and Japan. Korea also has similar tradition, using Hangul or Korean letters and Hanzi or Chinese script.
"That's why it is no surprise if people can’t tell the difference when looking at Japanese, Chinese or Korean calligraphy," said Sohn In-Sik, Korean calligraphy artist, said during the opening of Invitational Exhibition of Korean Modern Calligraphy at Korean Cultural Center last Wednesday. However, Sohn said that Korean calligraphy distinguish itself as it generally depicts philosophy of life and personality of Korean people.
Thirty six calligraphy artists, including Sohn, participate in the exhibition that has been held since February 26 and will end on March 11. The calligraphic arts range from classic to contemporary.
Sohn displays one classic calligraphy art that portrays his residence in Bogor, adorned with view of the mountains. Sohn has been living in Indonesia for ten years to teach the art of calligraphy. Sohn stated that he personally prefers classic calligraphy that uses black ink and white paper.
"In my opinion, using many colors will spoil the message that I want to deliver through black and white ink," he said.
According to Sohn, the emotions that want to be expressed through black-ink calligraphy could me materialized through the thickness of lines on the paper.
However, Sohn explained that contemporary calligraphy art also has a place in Korea. Some of them are being displayed in this exhibitions, one of them is by Han Thai-Sang.
Different from the classic calligraphy, Han's calligraphy uses a black paper with white and pink ink. Various Hangul letters are spread around randomly on the paper.
"Calligraphy can also use symbols such as the sun or animals, which make it look like a painting," said Sohn.
RATNANING ASIH