Through the Norwegian Cultural Rucksack (DKS) I have over the last few years toured with artist and collegue Elisabeth Alsos Strand around many schools in Nordland County in North Norway with our project Blekkhuset. We have mainly worked with children between 10 and 14 years and our aim is to inspire them to enjoy the art of shaping letters and reclaim the joy of the hand written letter.
“In our times the written language has undergone a major transformation. From hand written letters to the touch of a screen. But are there qualities in a hand written letter which we are missing in our digital age? It is the sensuous experience of letters and handwriting as an art form that is explored in this project. The participants will get a glimpse of the history of letters and writing and given a practical crash-course in calligraphy, which is the art of forming letters. The pupils will experiment with different ways of shaping letters and try out many different writing tools and gain inspiration and knowledge to write their own hand written letter. This project is meant to inspire children and teachers to capture the magic of letters and rekindle the magic and art of hand writing.”
