2018 Aug 29
Typography, an art that often goes underappreciated, will be a cause for celebration this upcoming Saturday (1st September) where AkuruCON, an annual conference featuring typography in Colombo will commemorate Lanka’s shared typographic heritage with the Netherlands.
Lanka’s typographic history begins with The Dutch Press in Ceylon, a printing firm amongst the first in the region that pioneered the typography of Sinhala and Tamil scripts. AkuruCON will focus on our intriguing development since those past times, and will include a series of workshops on both calligraphy and typography as well as an evening of presentations made by a select few acclaimed speakers.
There will also be a special appearance made by esteemed guest Martin Majoor. Majoor, a typeface designer, is well known for having gathered experience teaching at schools in Arnhem and Breda as well as conducting many workshops in Amsterdam, Madrid, Seoul, Vienne and more. He is regarded as a revolutionary in the field of typography that has gathered quite a few enthusiasts in his wake, making him a fitting speaker for this conference.
Other highlights of the event includes the publishing of the first version of revival fonts (based on original typography by the Dutch Press) and a string of workshops from introducing the basics of font-making tools to the basics of calligraphy (a must for lettering enthusiasts!)
The one-day event will be held from 8 am to 6 pm, where the workshops will be conducted at the RCU Skills Centre, following which the procession will head to the Mahaweli Centre for the remaining presentations and interactions.
Organized by the Akuru Collective and Mooniak, in collaboration with Academy of Design, this conference is a must-attend for design students or even the general public with a taste of curiosity for understanding the art of Sinhala and Tamil letter forms, specifically from the Dutch era. Visit akurucon.com for registration and more information!
