The Art of Armenian Calligraphy / ՀԱՅԿԱԿԱՆ ԱՐՎԵՍՏԱԳՐՈՒԹՅԻԻՆ

Co-authored with: Michael Stone, Dikran Kouymjian, J.R.Russell

This project is currently on hold due to lack of financial resources to complete the necessary research.

RM

I am currently engaged in a work on a book dedicated to the history and evolution of the Armenian script and it's alluring and largely understudied calligraphic tradition. It will contain most of the recent research on the Armenian paleography (Stone, Kouymjian and J.R.Russell amongst others) along with my own calligraphic work.

The aim of the book is to provide an extensive visual and intellectual inquiry into the roots and evolution of the Armenian script system. It follows the development of the Armenian alphabet and its applications in lapidary inscriptions, manuscripts, applied arts, etc. A chapter will be dedicated to Calligraphy studies within the Armenian Classical Education System (prior to the genocide). It will be a tri-lingual edition - Armenian, English and (to be determined).

I require assistance with the following tasks:

1. Translation from Classical Armenian to English (or French).
( a sample of text in question : http://15levels.com/sample-text.jpg )
2. Editing of the book.
3. Translation of the manuscript: from English to Armenian & French.
4. Allocating research & publication grants.
5. Sourcing additional material (especially from libraries and collections in Venice, Vienna, BnF & British Library)

If you are able to provide assistance with this project, or are simply interested in the subject, please contact me, I have a lot of information to share.

Some initial artwork can be seen here:
http://15levels.com/art/armeniancalligraphy/

Book's abstract:

Format description

Title of the proposed book:
“The Art of Armenian Calligraphy / ՀԱՅԿԱԿԱՆ ԱՐՎԵՍՏԱԳՐՈՒԹՅԻԻՆ”
Projected length (pages in print) : 220 / over 140  illustrations
Page dimensions: width: 25,5 cm x height: 35 cm
Number of volumes: I
Number of copies: 500
Quality of paper:  matte 120 gram | 30% transparent  pergament paper
Hardcover,  silk cloth (red)
Tri-lingual edition:  English, Armenian  & (to be determined)

The vision of this project is to create a book that encompasses the most fascinating examples of Armenian calligraphy through time; following its evolution and placing it on a stage upon which it can be studied as an art form in its own right. It will be designed to serve as a source of reference and inspiration to anyone interested in this subject, and to illuminate its future by offering inspiring examples of contemporary calligraphic work.

Author statement

“The noblest acquisition of mankind is speech, and the most useful art is writing. The first, eminently distinguishes man from the brute creation; the second, from uncivilized savages...; it has been so long known and used, that few men think upon the subject; so inattentive are we to the greatest benefits, from their having been long enjoyed...”

These words were written in 1803, when writing was already far from the only means of thought transmission; even as the printing press took over the tasks of mass information dissemination with its incomparable capacity to replicate the written word at scale, writing was still considered the most personal, intimate and ultimately the most beautiful way of communication. Even today, two centuries later, when one receives a hand-written letter something very familiar and happy occurs, as if for a second, one can feel the presence of a friend, a lover or a long missed parent. Everything written by hand becomes explicitly unique.

Calligraphy is the script in its purest forms. Its virtues aspire preciseness, beauty, distinctness, simplicity, originality, proportion and ultimately unity, mastership and freedom.  It can be regarded as a temporary and spatial art simultaneously, because, by following the form we 'reverse' the time and, reading the traces of the author’s struggle with the material, we can experience almost the same state as the artist at the time of creation.

The book's richly illustrated historical research will address script systems present in the Near East from as early as the late Iron age (4 millennium B.C.), through the time of invention of the Armenian Alphabet in 405 A.D and to the present day. The book, designed in line with authentic layouts of classical Armenian manuscripts intends to offer a blend of academic research on the evolution of the Armenian writing tradition and of the contemporary calligraphic practice. It's rich and mostly forgotten legacy- (the term 'calligraphy' can be rightfully applied to the signatures of Armenian Cilician Kings, letters of Komitas, Sayat-Nova & Archile Gorky, as well as correspondence of late 19th century Armenian poets beautifully executed in stylized Sła'gir, etc.) – will be the subject of this volume.

The proposed volume will include essays from M. Stone, D. Kouymjian & H. Lehmann's “Album of Armenian Paleography” (Aarhus Press, 2002), providing the most recent research on Armenian paleography with regard to the letter types and their use over time. An insightful analysis of the arithmetical symbolism and mystical reverence of the Armenian Alphabet will be offered in an article by James Russell from Harvard University.  A special chapter will be dedicated to the studies of Armenian calligraphy within the framework of classical Armenian education prior to the genocide, including (for the first time published in English & Hebrew) a practical guide to Armenian calligraphy  from Vienna (1834), Tiflis & Nor Nachijevan (1870).

Particular importance will be placed on the quality of printing, layout, design and typography as well as the binding and finishing of the book. The intent of this project is to produce a superb volume of reference and inspiration.