Korean calligraphist shows meditative art in Jakarta

By Mehru Jaffer

JAKARTA (JP): Following in the footsteps of illustrious calligraphists of the Hall of Worthies from the ancient Choson dynasty and armed with little else but the four essential tools of ink, ink stone, brush and paper, InJae InSik Son of Korea has come to conquer many a heart here.

In his maiden exhibition in Jakarta that is poetically titled "One Road, Pond in Heaven", he gives a glorious glimpse of the traditional art of calligraphy which rapid modernization even threatens to wipe away.

In this push-button era of digital computation and silicon chips it is refreshing to see InJae InSilk Son practice this meditative art that involves a whole lifetime of fine tuning the entire self with the arm, hand, eye and posture, all concentrated in unison on the same purpose of putting to paper the upper most thought of the moment.

InJae InSik Son creates calligraphy not only because it is an important treasure of his heritage but simply because it is a passion with him.

While in town to exhibit his work, the calligraphist painstakingly demonstrated for hours how ink is put to paper to create beauty in the hope that by getting to know the culture and different ways of life of people elsewhere, they will become more tolerant of each other.

"Art is one way all human beings can appreciate one another even if they speak different languages," points out InJae InSik Son.

Dipping his brushes deep into thick black ink, the master painter explained how the character of love is different to like how tree flows into the plural trees and is eventually transformed into a character that is used to communicate a forest. By controlling the concentration of ink, the thickness and absorptivity of the paper, the artist showed how free he is to produce an infinite variety of styles and forms.

"I first saw the work of InJae InSik in Korea and wanted other Indonesians to share the same experience," says Miranty Abidin, chairperson of Yayasan Cerana Budaya, the sponsor of the exhibition.

The other sponsor is the Korean Wives' Association and its head Eun-Kyoung Park says that it is a matter of pride and comfort for all Koreans living here to share the joys of calligraphy with all lovers of art.

Brush calligraphy is an art, unique to the Asian cultures of China, Japan and Korea, with Chinese calligraphy the oldest Asian script, dating back to around 2000-1500 BC. Although basking in much freedom, it remains a deep mental exercise that coordinates the mind and the body to choose its own special expression.

According to all those who practice it, calligraphy is a most relaxing yet very disciplined exercise. A beautiful piece of calligraphy is valued not just for its aesthetic but also because it radiates a sense of spiritual awakening in the reader.

Calligraphy has always been regarded as the most abstract and sublime form of art in Chinese culture as it follows only unwritten laws and is said to be most revealing of one's refinement. During the imperial era, calligraphy was used as a yardstick to select decision makers to the Imperial court, only because the art allows the individual to express his humanism and view of the world most freely.

Korean government officials were required to excel in calligraphy as well. The early Choson Dynasty in the 12th century was a golden age in Korean cultural history, most prominently for the invention of hang-gui, the Korean alphabet. At that time scholar King Sejong along with members of the Hall of Worthies, consisting of the best minds chosen from all over the kingdom, made sure that Korea made great all round progress in the arts as well as in the sciences. Most of them were themselves great calligraphists.

The most outstanding of them all was the third son of the king himself, with a hand so supple and a style so elegant that the glitter of the kingdom was able to beam far and wide. The Japanese invasions of 1592-1598 brought into Korea yet another form of calligraphy when the Songsol style of the late Koryo dynasty was termed too decorative and replaced by the more practical and straightforward style of the neo-Confucianism period known as Wang Yi-zhi style.

Although calligraphy uses words to express itself, it is not necessary to know the meaning of each character to appreciate the astounding beauty of the art. Calligraphy, in fact, is best enjoyed when looked at as abstract art, without burdening one's self with questions like what is the meaning, technique or style of a scroll.

The idea is not so much to learn how to write with a brush or what the words are, but just to look and be satisfied. Even though perfection counts in all calligraphy, if a particular piece pleases that is enough for both the artist and the critic.

So I stand before the calligraphy of Injae InSik and am not at all sure whether it is perfect or not. But that is all right I guess as I am quite happy just enjoying it.

This rare exhibition is open till Oct. 25 only at the Flamboyan and Garbera room at Mulia Hotel. On Oct. 25 at 10 a.m., InJae InSik Son will also give a workshop on how to practice calligraphy at the same place.