Thursday, June 13, 2013

Western Calligraphers in Singapore


A couple of us Western calligraphers in Singapore were interviewed by the Sunday Times recently. The above article, ‘Old script, new uses’, appeared in the Life! supplement on 26 May 2013.

As a calligraphy enthusiast who does not do commissioned work, I am delighted that there are now two young calligraphers — Ong Fang Zheng and Clarence Valerius Wee — to whom I can refer the almost-weekly requests I get from wedding planners and designers looking for a calligrapher.

This article was, I understand from the journalist, originally to have featured calligraphers in general, i.e. including those from Chinese and other traditions, but its eventual focus was narrowed to Western calligraphy. I was asked to provide samples of three hands — Gothic, Italic and Copperplate — but I proposed Foundational in place of Gothic as the Germanic script is one I have never been able to master, and probably never shall.

10 comments:

  1. This is nice post which I was awaiting for such an article and I have gained some useful information from this site. Thanks for sharing this information.

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    calligraphy

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    1. Thanks, Isha! Sorry for the very late reply as I haven't been logging into this blog for ages.

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  2. Hi Mr Tan, I would actually like to invite you to a calligraphy event and exhibition coming up but I can't find any contact details to get in touch with you. Is it possible for me to get an e-mail address?

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    1. Sorry, I think my reply comes far too late, but thanks for asking.

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  3. Hi Mr. Tan,

    My name is Mun Ra. I am interested to learn english calligraphy and I have looking for the classes in Singapore. I wanna learn it not because of business purpose just because of my own interest. I would like to know if you have your own class of western calligraphy or if you are teaching anywhere? If you are not accepting any students, I would be very happy if you can help me by telling me where i can learn. Looking forward your reply and thank you very much.

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    1. Hi, Mun Ra. I'm afraid I won't be holding any classes this year, but do join the Calligraphers SG Facebook group and post a query there if you wish -- some of my friends there are beginning to teach a couple of classes, I understand. Good luck!

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  4. Hi! do you have anymore workshops this year?

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    1. Sorry, none scheduled at the moment! Last year's workshops were tiring to do and I need a break for now.

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  5. Hi, I am a student at ACS International and I'm trying to write up a proposal for a western calligraphy CCA.To do this I will need to find an instructor, which has proven to be quite difficult. Do you have any contacts for this? It will be about 1.5hrs weekly, and if it is approved it should begin next year in January. Thank you!

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    1. Hi, Min Zee. Sorry for this late reply. There are several people teaching Western calligraphy in Singapore these days, so you may be in luck :) Do join our Calligraphers SG Facebook page and post a query there -- I'm sure you will get a response. If you aren't on Fb, however, do let me know and I'll post the query on your behalf. All the best!

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