ABSTRACT
An unforgettable experience: watching the calligrapher Donald Jackson, quill in hand, write small and perfectly formed italic letters on parchment the colour of alabaster. His back straight, his face gently inclined and his whole being channeled through shoulder, arm, wrist, finger and pen to the point where pen, ink and parchment meet. The personal interpretation of historical scripts does not have to be done at higher speed than otherwise, but calligraphers tend to think that speed will lead to a dynamic, personal and contemporary style of writing. Calligraphy, with its reliance on language, is an interesting practice through which to study the 'freedom from–freedom to' debate. The strategies used by contemporary Western calligraphers often reveal specific received ideas about the nature and meaning of gestures and their relationship to writing and artistic creation. The calligraphy rehearsed the city's history, interlacing it with fictive stories about the great towers that once stood thick as a small forest in the city center.
