The third edition of the International Calligraphy Festival of Kerala (ICFK 2025), steered by KaChaTaThaPa Foundation in association with Kerala Lalithakala Akademi, began with much aplomb in Kochi on Thursday.
The four-day event, held once again at the Durbar Hall Art Gallery, remains the only festival in the country dedicated exclusively to calligraphy, and hence boasts, like usual, the participation of big names from across India and abroad.
“The festival is a perfect avenue for the people here to learn about calligraphy,” says Narayana Bhattathiri, the force behind ICFK and the founder of KaChaTaThaPa Foundation, as he gave us a tour. A noted calligrapher with over four decades of experience, he splits his time between conducting workshops, classes and the promotion of this craft by way of similar exhibitions.
“I’ve seen first-hand the spike in interest. People are now more appreciative of calligraphy. Until only a few years ago, only a small clutch of people really paid attention to this craft or even knew about it. That’s changed significantly in the past half a decade,” says Narayana.
The festival was, no doubt, a big catalyst for this appreciation in interest and has, since its inception, grown to accommodate more than just an exhibition. Indeed, on its sidelines, there are workshops, discussions, demonstrations and lectures, with a throng of the young and the old, all in rapt attention.
This year is particularly interesting with the addition of a fashion show, a unique show blending calligraphy-inspired attire with stage presentation, and a pen show, offering collectors and enthusiasts a rare opportunity to explore a variety of pens (and even buy a few). Prices fall between `50 and `5 lakh.
“Another highlight is the institution of the G Vivekanandan Memorial Award for excellence in script-based art displayed at the ICFK each year,” says Narayana. It includes a cash prize and citation, before finding us a quiet corner to discuss the history of calligraphy.
But what is calligraphy? “Well, your dictionaries define it as ‘the art of producing artistic, stylised or elegant handwriting or lettering. But of course, like it is in the case for all art forms, definitions don’t define the practice. It is so much more,” Narayana explains.
Before the advent of the printing press, he continues, this was how people knew what was at play. “Both around them and elsewhere in the world. So it was important that they be legible to read, thus introducing a skill aspect to what is otherwise just ‘writing’.”
As time passed, these writings transcended their function into art, and several names stood out. “The arrival of the printing press and its subsequent evolutions pushed calligraphy into a niche for a long time. Later, it found a resurgence on social media,” he adds.
But even when calligraphy was at its zenith, Kerala, and even south India, remained oblivious to it as ‘a form of art’, Narayana explains. “Our scripts were mostly written on palm leaf manuscripts, which have an inherent limitation. This is in part why several of our Malayalam letters are round or oval in shape,” he says.
By the time calligraphy made inroads in this region, the printing press had long found a foothold, thus relegating it to what Narayana describes as “poster works”. But according to him, calligraphy is so much more, and he is thankful that the craft is seeing a resurgence. “I say this often, and much to the anger of several artists. Calligraphy has even a one-up over painting,” Narayana says.
Elaborating further, he adds, “Painting artworks have colour, a style and a message. Calligraphy has these three and another element: lettering.” This, he says, holds the viewer’s attention slightly longer. Some lean on this aspect of calligraphy to make it political. And it has been used to such masterful effect in politics, especially in Kerala.
Interestingly, Narayana’s youth is filled with several instances of him being called on to lend his calligraphy skills to make politics of that time lively. “But of course, calligraphy accomplishes more than that… It is, as is the case for any art, how we use it, and it is shaped by (and shapes) religion and spirituality, culture, etc.,” he says.
It was not until 2017, he recalls, that he found his way into calligraphy. “I was attending a camp held in Pune, which was attended by calligraphers from across India. “That was indeed a turning point,” recalls Narayana. “It opened my eyes to the potential of this craft, and I began working to promote it. This festival is one vehicle to achieve that goal.”
Like the printing press, the advent of AI has come as a prickly thorn, but Narayana is unfazed. “I don’t think it will affect calligraphy much. Especially given how the work infuses a lot of lettering, most of which is in regional languages,” he smiles.
The exhibition concludes on October 5.