Upon entering the exhibition, you will encounter Rangila Maro Dholna, painted in Gujarati and French, translated as “my colorful lover”. Sanskrit mantras about happiness are hidden in French quotes that ask: where exactly does joy live? Bengali poetry pays tribute to Tagore and Victor Hugo, uniting two poets from all continents through translation and art. The Gurmukhi letterforms echo Le Corbusier’s architectural vision while embodying Punjabi values of equality.
These visions can be seen in Scripted Dialogues—A Calligraphic Conversation, a part of Alliance Française, India’s cultural initiative, at The Ravi Paranjape Studio in Pune until January 27. The exhibition is meticulously curated by Padmaja Srivastava of Alliance Française, Bhopal.
The opening ceremony on January 24 was attended by Amélie Weigel, Alliance Française, Pune director, calligrapher Sanjeev Joshi and several calligraphy and French enthusiasts.
Two lineages, centuries apart
Indian calligraphy spread when traders, monks, and missionaries dispersed Indic writing throughout Central Asia and Southeast Asia. One of the first scripts to evolve from the Indus Valley script was the Brahmi script. It became the basis of almost all the major scripts of the subcontinent such as Devanagari, Bengali, Tamil and others. The calligraphic history of France has its roots in the Latin alphabet rather than indigenous scripts. From the medieval period onwards, French calligraphy was the almost exclusive domain of the monasteries.
As Europe emerged from the medieval period, French calligraphy evolved. Gothic script, and eventually the Ronde, remained in official use until the 20th century. It was always a script of power and institution, refined and standardized.
In this Pune exhibition, these two lineages speak to each other. The exhibition covers eight artists and 23 calligraphies, each using seven scripts and eight languages. They combine Indian and French influences, exploring cultural narratives, poetic fragments, philosophy, history, architecture and design through different schools of Indian calligraphy.
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Devanagari, the script most closely associated with Sanskrit, Hindi and Marathi, becomes the playground for artists like Sudeep Gandhi, Nikheel Aphale and Achyut Palav. Palav, a recipient of the Padma Shri, has become synonymous with a modernized Devanagari practice that honors tradition but breaks its rules. Suresh Waghmore’s practice with Kannada represents a more contemporary tone. Historically used in the Deccan Plateau, his work employs experimental approaches through freestyle and traditional variants that feel both ancient and urgent.
Combining Hindi and Urdu scripts, Qamar Dagar represents a particularly nuanced school shaped by Mughal influence on Indian writing. The tradition descends from Persian and Arabic calligraphic practices.
Similarly, Gurumukhi (Punjabi and Sikh script), Tamil and Bengali calligraphies bring additional regional perspectives through artists such as Tarun Girdhir, Rupak Neogy and Sanjeev Kumar. Set against the backdrop of Republic Day, these works show that India’s greatest strength lies in allowing cultures to converse, collide and create something new.
When Sanjeev Joshi, an architect by profession and a great fan of calligraphy, talks about his work, he insists: “These are above all paintings.” “They are deliberately abstract, even illegitimate. But that’s the point. They ask you to experience, not just read.” Calligraphy, Joshi maintains, has been misclassified as a commercial art for too long.
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“It is a fine art and, to a large extent, also a performing art,” he says, implying that the act of creation is itself the experience. Joshi also conducted a calligraphy workshop at the exhibition, where participants were taught the basics of Roman and Devanagari scripts.