The master of pictorial calligraphy

Poosapati Parameshwar Raju, a world-renowned calligrapher and designer, will be exhibiting his works at Alliance Française from March 1 to 14. Along with the exhibition the artist is also conducting a two-day workshop on calligraphy for aspiring artists.

Parameshwar Raju learnt the art of calligraphy in 1982 and since then he has carved a niche for himself in the field. “I learnt to write ‘Porchi’, which is writing a religious text. And it has two components – a written and a pictorial script. Porchi is essentially a two people job; one will do pictograph and the other is a calligrapher. It is very rare to find a person who draws and also writes the text. As I learnt how to write, I thought to learn how to depict as well. So, I started with writing ‘Om’ in various forms and then it continued and evolved slowly and then it ended to the narration. My idea was to do narration as it makes the art interesting.”

Hailing from Vizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh, Parameshwar Raju did his graduation in Fine Arts and Masters in Visualisation and Typography from Aurangabad. And he has been showcasing his works in Hyderabad for a long time.  

“The exhibition that is going to be held on March 1 will be displaying works that will trigger the emotions that make a person remember the mythological stories, it will remind you of all your childhood days. It takes a little time to understand the strokes, but eventually when you see it you will understand,” the 57-year-old artist said.

The artist is soon coming up with books of these strokes, “We have completed around 12 books so far and now we are working on compiling these books. There is another book called ‘Indian Traditional Thread’, and it will be published soon.”

The exhibition has two parts one is about girl child and the second is about mythology. “I have titled it as the ‘Nurtured Daughter and other Iconic Works’. I would be there at the exhibition on the first day to explain my works.”

Regarding the two-day workshop, he said, “I work on pictorial calligraphy; I will be teaching the students how to write calligraphy and strokes if they are interested. This is only for limited people like around 10 members who would register for the two-day workshop that will be costing `2500 per day.”