CalligraFilipino

“Calligraphy” means “Beautiful Writing,” but what Taipan Lucero does is beyond beautiful. His “CalligraFilipino” celebrates the Philippines’ ancestral culture through the writing styles of the past.

Taipan got the idea while working as a designer in Japan and saw the love and respect the Japanese have for their traditional calligraphy. “I quit my job and went back home to start CalligraFilipino. It is a movement that uses talks, workshops, and exhibits to re-educate and celebrate our ancestral culture.”

Just as languages die if people don’t learn to speak them, ancestral writing scripts die if people don’t practice using them and teaching others too. Taipan practices and teaches. “Baybayin and other similar writing scripts of the Philippines are in danger. We are celebrating Buwan Ng Wika, our National Month of Speech, written and spoken, as well as Indigenous People’s Month. This Awesome Without Borders grant will be used to buy calligraphy instruments and to distribute materials including letter charts and calligraphy paper worksheets for the people who participate in our workshops.”

The lush curves and strokes of Taipan’s work lead one to wonder why that calligraphy isn’t as well-known as other nation’s unique scripts. “Filipinos rarely flaunt or assert their own culture on anyone. That is why most people do not know what constitutes Filipino culture, sometimes even our own people do not know. Through CalligraFilipino, we celebrate our ancestral culture, that which existed before any colonizers came to our land. Understanding and practicing our ancestral writing is a way of connecting our people today with our rich cultural past.”

If you are a lover of beautiful writing, you will swoon when you check out his work.