I am Hiral Bhagat a calligrapher from Gujarat, India. I live and work in Ahmedabad- the first world heritage city of India declared by UNESCO in 2017. Let me start with my journey into the world of art and design. I studied applied art from C.N. College of Fine Arts. During my study I had interest and special attraction towards calligraphy but didn’t get chance to explore much then, which I discovered later in my career. After worked as graphic designer in Ahmedabad and Mumbai for few years, I got my interest back in calligraphy as it is an “art of beautiful writing”.
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I was always attracted towards hand skills as an artist which calligraphy gave me enough possibilities to explore with hand. My search for an expert teacher ended when I met Achyut Palav sir and learnt Roman and Devnagari calligraphy from him at advance level. I had also learnt fundamentals of calligraphy from other very brilliant teachers from India and abroad. Each learning experience was enriching and I got knowledge about various facets of calligraphy. It completely changed my perception of calligraphy as art form. I was practicing my art regularly and trying to make it better each time. My habit of reading also helped me lot as I read good books about calligraphy suggested by my teachers to widen the horizon of my knowledge. During my initial years of learning of calligraphy I also met national and international practicing calligraphers and gathered learnings from their experiences. There is no formal education in the field of calligraphy so I have to find my own ways to learn about this art which I am very much passionate about. I regularly visit art galleries and attend lectures as well as seminars by great artist to know more about art field in general. I had taken a very unconventional route to learn about calligraphy which proved very satisfying for me. For me calligraphy is like a meditation. It is a complete involvement and coordination of mind, eye and hand in a natural harmony. When I work I even forget about the sense of place and time. Calligraphy rejuvenates me when I feel little low from daily routine.
How was your journey in the initial years of your career?
When I was learning the basics of calligraphy I kept thinking about my mother tongue which is Gujarati. Lot of questions kept coming to my mind about the script and its formal constructions. There was hardly any ready materials about it so again per my investigative nature, I researched and collected lot of information about Gujarati script from various sources. This time I immediately indulged and involved in study of the script on my own as there was hardly any calligrapher who had explored this script. Upon practicing the script meticulously, I understood finer aspects of it. This opened up new possibilities for me to look at my mother language very differently. I took inspirations from my city, its culture, language, people, music, films, dance forms etc. to create calligraphy art works. The Gujarati calligraphy has also brought me closer to the Gujarati literature as I have started using literary forms such as poems, verses, Haiku etc. in my work. I have consciously tried to translate meaning of the literary forms into meaningful visual calligraphic forms. I am able to connect the literature with visual art which is the comprehensive purpose of my calligraphic explorations.
What was the significant milestone of your career?
I was proud when my Gujarati calligraphy artwork got selected at global level over 80 submissions all over the word at 6th Annual International Exhibition called Calligraphies in Conversation – An Exhibition of Multicultural Calligraphy at San Francisco CA in 2019. I am fortunate that as a woman I got equal opportunity in the field of calligraphy. I believe that when one works honestly with focus, work only speaks for itself. Now a day, in this advance world, being male or female doesn’t matter much. World wants to see new ideas and they are appreciated also without gender bias. At this junction of career as an artist my perception changed that calligraphy is not only about “art of beautiful writing” but it is more about “meaningful writing”. Something you want to convey to the students pursuing art/ want to pursue art.. In India we have number of regional languages as well as scripts therefore I strongly believe that there are immense possibilities to explore regional calligraphy art. Each script has its own beauty and characteristics which can be demonstrated through calligraphy and put forward in front of larger audience. I can see the wide scope in the field of professional calligraphy. Hand done work is appreciated world over by creative communities and it has been placed on a much higher pedestal.
How can a person decide their distinctive style according to you?
Just KEEP GOING...
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