Suitable for beginners – A journey to understanding and experiencing personal presence through the aesthetics and philosophy of East Asian Calligraphy / Ink Brush Practice
Sunday 5 June
10.30 - 12.30pm
Aistear Park - Mountshannon Arts Tent, Mountshannon
By donation - booking necessary as space is limited
Booking: mountshannonfestival@gmail.com
10.30 - 11.30am: East Asian Calligraphy Workshop
11.30 - 12.00pm: Calligraphy Demonstration & Performance
12.00 - 12.30pm: Collaboration
Talking about "peace" can be very challenging, and sometimes, even overwhelming. We rage, we become upset and we can perhaps be angry with the evil that awoke us from our sweet dreams.
I remember it was a beautiful morning. One of the most charming spring mornings. I sat by the window, waiting for my breakfast to be served. Looking at the warm meal, I suddenly had this powerful image of people on the other side of the world, starving on the street, having lost everything they owned.
I could not eat.
My heart hurt.
"What can I do, to create peace?" I thought.
Sometimes, we feel very small. We know there are hundreds of children dying; we know our Mother Earth is in pain; we know people in Ukraine are forced to leave their country and do not even have a roof over their heads.
"What can I do, to create peace?"
Looking deeply, I realized that each of us can do something to bring peace into this world. We can start small, from ourselves, our family, our community, our nation, and, that’s how we can create a more peaceful and loving world.
If you are an artist, you can use your brush to create and inspire others;
If you are a writer, you can use your talent of words to create loving poems;
If you are a parent, you can help your children by showing them what is love, peace and joy;
If you are a politician, you can try your best to make policies that are inclusive and community building;
If you are an educator, you can raise the next generation by bringing loving speech and mindful actions into the classroom.
WHAT TO EXPECT
During the workshop, we will learn how to use an oriental brush, how to sit and how to breathe to bring ourselves home, where we feel relaxed, free and happy. We will learn how to draw the ideograph "合" （“Peace / harmony”）. We will look together at how this ideograph developed thousands of years ago from a symbol into its formal writing system.
Followed by this workshop, Yingge will demonstrate these symbols through a live brush performance, with her personal embodiment and expression of "合" （“Peace / harmony”）.
Yingge would love to, humbly and wholeheartedly, invite you to join her, with each of your brush strokes on the paper, to create a collaboration artwork that is imprinted with peace, harmony and interbeing.
“Everything relies on everything else in the cosmos in order to manifest - whether a star, a cloud, a flower, a tree, or you and me.” We wish you to join us to create, have fun and bring “peace” into ourselves, our community and the world.
Course Schedule
Each session last for 2.5 hours
10.30 - 11.30am: East Asian Calligraphy Workshop
11.30 - 12.00pm: Calligraphy Demonstration & Performance
12.00 - 12.30pm: Collaboration
Aistear Park - Mountshannon Arts Tent, Mountshannon
By donation - booking necessary as space limited
Booking: mountshannonfestival@gmail.com
MEET THE TEAM
Yingge Xu
From an early age Yingge Xu learned Tai Chi, meditation and calligraphy alongside her father while receiving a traditional education in China. Later she trained at the Chinese Flower and Bird Painting Institute and continued her learning with ink brush artists from both China and Japan.
Moving to Ireland in 2015, and seeing how meditation is taught and applied in the West, inspired a new perspective of her own art and cultural background. Yinnge shares her passion for both meditation and ink-brush art, not as separate activities but as a ‘wholesome experience’.
Tools & Materials
* All the tools & materials will be provided on-site. All you need is warm and comfortable clothing and showing up, ready to learn and get inspired.
* You are very welcome to bring your own brush as well.
We look forward to seeing you at the event.
Have questions? Contact me here.
Comments