Ancient tactile art draws crowd to Calgary

In an increasingly digital world, Calgary is hosting a celebration of an ancient art form going through a recent resurgence.

The Western Canada Calligraphy Conference offers four days of hands-on workshops and demonstrations designed to spark creativity and refine artistic skill in the centuries-old practice.

The event brings nearly 100 people from around the world to focus on tactile artistry, mindfulness and community.

It’s the first year for the event and several attendees are grateful, saying they are avoiding travelling to the United States where the international conference takes place each year.

While coding is all the rage, cursive is climbing in popularity.

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Calligraphy, meaning ‘beautiful writing’ in Greek, has roots in Asia and Ancient Rome but it is more than pretty lettering; it’s therapeutic.

Putting down technology and focusing on mental health are some of the reasons people are taking notice.

“This resurgence of wanting to connect. Just put down your phone and reconnect to you know the old ways,” said Maxie Pena from Calgary.

Several artists at the Calgary conference spoke of how the “slow art” helped them feel calm and connected.

“It’s just the pen and the ink and the page. You forget about everything else and just write. It helps me meditate, de-stress and relax” added Pena.

Many attendees say the art form connected them to online communities, which led to friends, some who are now meeting for the first time in Calgary.

While some people do it as a hobby, other artists have established successful professional careers instructing and creating designs for fashion labels, celebrities and royalty.

This year’s conference includes some of those artists from Hong Kong, New York and Barcelona.

“Barry Morentz (New York) is leaving directly from the conference to do an event at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. He’s got works in Paul McCartney’s house and Kalo Chu (Hong Kong) did work for the coronation of King Charles,” said Burk.

But artists say gaining recognition isn’t the goal.

“I think it’s really more about the process and it’s not really about the finished thing that you’re going to hang on the wall that you’re going to see a museum that you’re going to publish in a book,” said Nina Tran, an instructor from Los Angeles.

It’s the way lovingly hand-crafted letters provide peace to the artist and weight to the words.

“I did a project for the Manitoba Metis Federation in 2023 that went to be signed by the pope. I’m not sure if that one’s more special than the poem that I did for Dad who was trying to connect with his eight-year-old daughter,” said Janet Murata, a Calligrapher from Winnipeg.

Anyone interested can attend the whole conference or just a day or two.

Organizers say guests from across Canada and the United States are also attending.

Plans for a 2026 Western Canada Calligraphy Conference are already in the works.