KaChaTaThaPa
International Calligraphy Festival of Kerala (ICFK) 2025
We are delighted to inform you about the third edition of the International Calligraphy Festival of Kerala, scheduled to be held in Kochi, Kerala in 2-5 October 2025.
This is a one-of-its-kind International Festival in India, that is exclusively focused on calligraphy. It is a momentous occasion for the art-loving community in the region, as they welcome top artists and calligraphers from around the world to God’s own Country.
Hosted by the KaChaTaThaPa Foundation in association with the Kerala Lalitha Kala Akademi, this event is the third annual iteration of the International Calligraphy Festival that was organised in Kochi in the previous two years.
The event will comprise of an impressive lineup of talented calligraphers from India & abroad, imparting their priceless knowledge to budding calligraphers, students, teachers, advertising artists, art lovers and art enthusiasts from all across the country.
Introducing the participants to new aspects of calligraphy, collaborative discussions on innovation & techniques of calligraphy, informative lectures on various art instruments, workshops, live demos and calligraphy quizzes are all part of the agenda for this four-day festival.
An International Calligraphy Exhibition will also be held in connection with this festival, at Durbar Hall, Ernakulam, which will be open to the public.
Letters Matter!
Calligraphy, the art of beautiful writing, has travelled far and wide since its origins. Contemporary calligraphy excels in giving definite form to signs in the most creative, harmonious and comprehensible fashion, using pen, ink brush or other writing tools. This expressive visual art, which is highly regarded all over the world, finds comparatively less practitioners in India and a minimum in Kerala.
The First International Calligraphy Festival of Kerala (ICFK)
ICFK envisions providing the much-demanded uplift to this gifted art in Kerala. It is organized by Ka Cha Ta Tha Pa Foundation, which earnestly strives for the promotion of calligraphy in the state. The festival can be viewed as a noble extension of the National Calligraphy Meet held at Trivandrum in 2019 and 2022. This time, participants include renowned artists from France, Germany, Iran and Vietnam, making it The First International Calligraphy Festival of Kerala. 16 reputed calligraphers from all over India also take part in the 4-day festival.
Festival Lights & Colors
The festival presents a wide range of programs on calligraphy, making it a grand gala event. It includes exhibitions, workshops, talks, discussions, live demo, quiz on calligraphy and other entertainment programs. It deals at length with the numerous aspects, possibilities and methods of the art and also its tools and application. The festival promises to be a new, wonderful experience for design professionals, art students, artists, art aficionados and general public as well.
Celebrated calligraphers
participating in the festival
Abhishek Vardhan Singh
Abhishek Vardhan Singh is an interdisciplinary calligrapher, researcher, and academician whose practice explores the confluence of letterforms, culture, and history. As the Founder and Executive Director of The Calligraphy Foundation, he has played a pioneering role in establishing calligraphy as both a refined visual art and an academic discipline in India. With a strong grounding in the historical and aesthetic dimensions of writing, his research foregrounds the scriptural heritage of the subcontinent.
He has taught and mentored at prestigious institutions including Banaras Hindu University, Delhi University, and the National Institute of Fashion Technology, nurturing a growing community of calligraphy practitioners and scholars. His work bridges classical traditions with contemporary expressions, reflecting a deep commitment to preserving and reimagining the written form as a vessel of cultural identity and creative exploration.
Achyut Palav
Achyut pallav is one of the foremost names in Indian calligraphy today. With his unique approach and faith in the aesthetic appeal of the art, he has made a significant contribution in reviving the glory of Indian calligraphy. Through various exhibitions and workshops in India and abroad, he has demonstrated calligraphy in Devnagari, English and other Indian languages. He believes that each letter and symbol is a design in itself and has the potential of becoming a piece of art.
He has always considered calligraphy to be the art of the common man. He has successfully experimented with fusing calligraphy with performing arts and his creations have demonstrated the high potential of calligraphy in terms of commercial application.
Achyut Palav has many publications, exhibitions and awards to his name befitting the tremendous work he has done. His works are in collections of art archives and museums in various countries. He founded the ‘Achyut Palav School of Calligraphy and established ‘Callifest’ –A Festival of Indian Scripts. They are the first of their kind in India. He is doing his utmost to promote calligraphy in all spheres of life and ensures that it reaches ever newer heights of glory.
Akshaya Thombre
Akshaya Thombre has been practicing calligraphy for over 14 years and specializes in Romancalligraphy. Her various experiments in the art led to the development and modification of her own variation of a style called ‘Blackletter’, which has a lot of variations internationally.
She bases her creation on her sense of identity, space, design forms, and the grace of each letter. She has furthered the idea and presented it in wall paintings, chocolate engravings, and more. She is presently working on various other letters and styles with different perspectives to look forward towards calligraphy and take it to a new level.
She currently is a visiting faculty at various colleges
in Mumbai Like ITM Andheri, Wistling woods international & Mahagami Gurukul Aurangabad.
She also freelances as a Calligrapher for various designing projects. She has participated in representing India in various international exhibitions, like Calligraphies and Conversations 5th annual International Exhibition 2018 Oakland California.Consecutive 4 years at Cheongju jikji south Korea. She is also the recipient of the Excellence Award at the 18th Cheongju Jikji World Calligraphy Association, South Korea 2021, and recently did a solo Calligraphy Exhibition at hotel Trident Mumbai (Nariman Point).
Ashok Parab
Ashok Gopal Parab is an accomplished Advertising Professional, Visual Communication Designer, Educator, and Founder–Director of Ashok Lipishala. A graduate of Sir J. J. Institute of Applied Arts, Mumbai, with a Master’s in Fine Arts from NIMS University, Jaipur, he brings over 36 years of expertise in advertising and communication design, creating impactful work for leading agencies and prestigious brands.
Honored with many national and international awards, Ashok is also a passionate educator who conducts lectures and workshops across India. His lifelong fascination with Indian scripts inspired a Bharat Darshan—a journey across states to study their diversity. This quest gave birth to Ashok Lipishala, a unique platform where calligraphy meets history, allowing learners to experience India’s vast script heritage through contemporary expression.
Brody Neuenschwander
Brody Neuenschwander is a calligrapher and text artist working in a wide range of media, from paper and parchment to metal, glass, textiles, installations, performances and more. He has worked for more than thirty years with film director Peter Greenaway, creating calligraphy for films, operas, and monumental installations.
Neuenschwander studied art history at Princeton University and the Courtauld Institute, receiving his PhD. in methodology in 1986. He studied calligraphy at the Roehampton Institute, London. In 1993 he moved to Bruges, Belgium, where he has worked as a calligrapher and artist ever since.
In 2020 his three-part documentary for Arte, the BBC and PBS on the history and future of writing was aired for the first time. This project revealed the continued importance of writing and calligraphy as signs of personal and national identity in all cultures.
Đăng Học (Gobi)
He is a multi-faceted creative individual who is a former World Record holder, Calligrapher, Singer, Actor and TV presenter, in his native country of Vietnam. After his graduation in Theatre and Cinema from Ho Chi Minh City University, he pursued his studies in Graphic design at Mission College and currently lives in Ho Chi Minh City.
G V Sreekumar
G. V. Sreekumar is a Professor of IDC School of Design, IIT Bombay. His areas of specialization are Typography, Publication Design, Information Design, Anatomy and Figure Drawing and Design Pedagogy.
He was an Art Director, Cartoonist, Calligrapher, Illustrator and Infographics designer before joining IIT Bombay as a professor. He has worked for several publications including the popular computer magazine “CHIP”, Intelligent Investor, The Times of India Group and Indian Express and Jasubhai Digital Media. Since 2000 he has been a faculty member at IDC, and IIT Bombay as well as a Design Consultant with many publications.
He is a visiting faculty member at several institutes including the Faculty of Fine Arts, M.S.University, Vadodara; National Institute of Design (NID), MIT Pune; IIIT Jabalpur and IIT Guwahati. In addition, he is a member of the Text Book Committee, NCERT, Government of India.
Gopal Patel
Gopal Patel a well known calligrapher in Gujrat, is a Diploma in Applied art, Jewelry designing & Art teacher training. He has been teaching for over 24 years and has practicing over 7 different scripts, mastering the Gujarati script and specializing in its variations physically and digitally both.
He also has conducts sessions and Demonstrations for Calligraphy in Gujrat and many other parts of India in various organizations, institutes, academies and art schools and colleges like Unison Word School Dehradun, Callifest (Mumbai & Pune), Fountain Head Surat, Mega Art Exhibition Surat Science Center,
B.Ed Collage Surat, Shiv Nadar int.School Faridabad, Delhi, National Academy of direct Taxes Nagpur and many more.
With representing his Masterd script Gujarati, he has also participated in various exhibitions Nationally and Internationally.
Gopal Patel is an inspiring Indian calligrapher for many as he takes it further and Makes sure to indulge all his students in learning all these different scripts while he successfully runs his academy called Ink Drops in Surat where he exhibits his students calligraphy work a displaying it on a large scale event every year a wonderful initiative called Aksharyatra.
Rajeesh K V
Rajeesh is a computer programmer with keen interest in typography and type development. He contributes to a large number of Open Source Software projects. He is involved in the maintenance of over a dozen of traditional orthography Malayalam fonts made freely available by Swathanthra Malayalam Computing and Rachana Institute of Typography. He has also developed software tools for font production which were instrumental in the making of N. Bhattathiri’s designs into open fonts such as Sundar, Karuna, Ezhuthu & Chingam. He likes to use TeX, Metafont and Linux
Inku Kumar
Inku Kumar is a self-learned and contemporary calligraphy artist. He works across numerous mediums and tools in calligraphy, mostly well known for his striking contemporary calligraphy & experimental compositions from his own unique vision. His work addresses the intersection between language and art.
He received his BFA & MFA in Applied Art from the College of Art, Delhi. Well known for writing certificates in his early years of bachelor and at the tender age of twenties, Inku constantly explored it and approached this art form as a drawing not writing.
Following a successful career of 7 years serving as a graphic designer in ESPN Start Sports and with a growing passion & enthusiasm towards Calligraphy, Inku left the corporate world in 2013 and committed his journey to explore the art form in his unique way.
Since then he never looked back and carved his own path to set his own trademarks in Calligraphy. In his recent years, Inku established his own studio/institute named CALLIART and worked with many recognized brands. When not making art, he can be found conducting innovative workshops on Calligraphy.
Kareem
Kareemgraphy (Abdul Kareem) is a calligraffiti artist who blends Arabic calligraphy with graffiti. He has performed at major events like the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, Dubai Horse World Cup 2024, AFC Asian Cup 2023, and the International Graffiti Festival in Indonesia. Trained in classical calligraphy in Turkey and Qatar, and with 13 years of design experience at the global agency Leo Burnett, he creates bold, impactful work. His live calligraphy on a Bentley car went viral across social media, and he recently performed at Morocco’s iconic Hassan II Mosque—one of Africa’s largest.
Recently awarded the prestigious Dubai Golden Visa, he has led workshops and exhibitions in the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey, Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, India, Uzbekistan, Iran, and Morocco. Founder of Kagrart Gallery in Calicut, India, his work has been featured by Al Jazeera, Al Ahram, Khaleej Times, Euro News, and leading Indian media.
Kim Jinyoung
Kim Jin-Young is the Vice President of the Asian Calligraphy Association, and the President of the Korean Association. He also currently serves the position of Chairman at the Korean Academy of Calligraphy. Apart from this, he is involved in academic councils and is an Advisory Professor of Calligraphy at Kyonggi University and an Adjunct Professor at the Graduate School of Oriental Culture.
Michel D’anastasio
Michel D’Anastasio is a Paris-based calligraphy artist whose work bridges silence and sign, Hebrew and Latin, tradition and contemporary expression. Since 1989, his journey has led him from the rigor of classical forms to the freedom of gestural writing, embracing ancient roots and new revelations. A pivotal trip to Israel awakened a profound connection with Hebrew letters, which he explores with spiritual depth and artistic innovation.
Through ink, sand, gold leaf, and shadowed light, his creations invite contemplation. Exhibited worldwide — from Tokyo to Tel Aviv, Montréal to Paris — Michel also shares his craft as a teacher, transmitting not only techniques but a reverence for the meditative power of the line. Michel explores the space between writing and silence, where each letter finds its own voice.
Mukesh kumar
Mukesh Kumar is a calligrapher and visual artist based in India. He holds a BFA and MFA in Applied Art from Raja Maan Singh Tomar University, Gwalior.
He specializes in Copperplate and experimental calligraphy and has conducted workshops across India in institutions like Shiv Nadar University, Lovely Professional University, and Craft Museum Delhi.
With a passion for scripts and letterforms, Mukesh brings language and emotion alive through his expressive calligraphy. He continues to explore diverse scripts and styles, sharing his knowledge through teaching and live demonstrations.
Muqtar Ahammed
Muqtar Ahmed has been working in the field of calligraphy for several years. He worked as an A grade calligrapher with one of India’s leading dailies, Daily Salar in Bangalore.
Muqtar attended the International Typography and Calligraphy Conference Dubai organised by the American University of Dubai, the Second International Arabic Calligraphy Exhibition in Algeria and the Sharjah Exhibition. He has participated in calligraphy exhibitions and events in Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt, Malaysia, and the UAE.
Apart from these, Muqtar also attended the Terengganu International Calligraphy Award ceremony in 2012, 2013 and 2014 on invitation to the Malaysia Calligraphy festival. He is the First Indian to receive ljaza (Masters Diploma) in Arabic calligraphy from IRCICA in Istanbul, turkey.
Narayana Bhattathiri
Narayana Bhattathiri was born in a sleepy little village in Kerala, India, and Graduated, from the College of Fine Arts, Trivandrum India, in painting. In 1982, He joined the Kalakaumudi group of publications as an artist — the first person in Kerala to be designated as a (Malayalam) calligrapher.
Kerala never had a history of calligraphy — still no equivalent word for calligraphy in the language. For more than four decades he played with Malayalam alphabets, ‘lettering’ the titles of stories and poems. Several exhibitions at art galleries and educational institutions in different parts of India.
He is also the recipient of the Jikji Excellence Award in International Calligraphy for 2017 and 2018. Work is selected for the Calligraphers in Conversation (5th Annual International Calligraphy Exhibition, Sanfrancisco)
His calligraphy work is also exhibited at the Calligraphy Stone Park in Herbin, China among the best in the world.
Nikheel Aphale
Nikheel is a trained graphic designer and has an independent practice in Bangalore. An alumnus of the National Institute of Design (NID) Ahmedabad, he is also a calligrapher with a primary focus on the Akshars (letterforms) of Devanagri.
He draws letter forms by peeling away layers of convention and exploring abstraction in different ways and through different media. He integrates familiar yet unfamiliar Devanagari letter forms into his mixed media artworks, which provoke the audience to interpret their own meaning.
Nikheel has worked with almost all leading publishers from India to design book covers and title lettering. He was a speaker at TEDx Shiv Nadar University in 2017. His calligraphy work was published in annual juried issues of Letter Arts Review, an internationally acclaimed calligraphy magazine from the USA. He was invited to participate in the World Calligraphy Biennale of Jeollabuk-do, South Korea and QingDao, China in 2018, also to the residencies and group shows in India & abroad and to teach in many institutes & universities.
Parameshwar Raju
Poosapati Parameshwar Raju is a notable artist and calligrapher, who successfully ventured and created a novel genre, iconic calligraphy.
His art emanates from his profound analytical researches made in iconography, signs and symbols, which are ingrained in Indian ethos. He has number of awards to his credit, including YSR Achievement Award, Andhra Pradesh State Award and the Award of Appreciation from the Chairman, Apeejay Stya University, where he is a PhD research scholar.
Pooja Nilesh
She is a calligrapher born and brought up in Mumbai. Since 15 years she is practicing Calligraphy under the guidance of Master Calligrapher Mr. Achyut Palav.
She has done her Graduation in Commerce stream with Diploma in Journalism, Announcing and Broadcasting. She has passed Intermediate and Elementary exams with A Grades. Then After she has done An art teacher Diploma (ATD) passed with first class. While learning Calligraphy She has dedicated her time studying manuscripts of 13 century Modi Script. She is actively involved in reviving this Beautiful Ornamental Script, For this she was honored with most prestigious the Modi Lipi Mitra award.
She has represented Achyut Palav School of Calligraphy (APSC) in a popular Doordarshan show, ‘Sakhi Sahyadri’ and Beyond thoughts (Vicharanchya Palikadale). She has presented a series on Handwriting improvement on a popular radio show called Bhashanmala on Aakashwani for Children’s.
Qamar Dagar
Qamar Dagar is a contemporary pictorial calligrapher. She combines Hindi and Urdu scripts using letters of both alphabets as art material giving visual interpretation to a chosen theme. She belongs to the world-renowned Dagar family of Indian classical (dhrupad) musicians.
Recipient of Nari Shakti Sammaan by the President of India, Women’s International award, Pioneer Artist Award, WUD Critic’s Choice Award she is dedicated to the preservation and popularization of calligraphy in both its traditional and contemporary avatars. She is founder Director of Qalamkaari Creative Calligraphy Trust (2011), Delhi. and has organized and curated International Calligraphy festivals “Qalam-Aatma” in Delhi and Jaipur. She is closely associated with Dhrupad Society.
She conducts workshops for SPICMACAY. She is committed to working towards making Indian contemporary creative and traditional calligraphy known the world over as an important visual art.
She is Project participant of Russia based MVK Contemporary Museum of Calligraphy, Moscow, features in book on Indian calligraphy Aksharbharti by Achyut Palav. Participated in Art festivals: ICFK-Kerela, Meraj-Bangaluru, Scripted Dialogues – Alliance Francaise. World Peace Conference- Chennai.
Sanjana Chatlani
Sanjana Chatlani is a calligrapher, lettering artist and entrepreneur based in Mumbai. She brings words to life through her beautiful lettering strokes. Having discovered her passion for calligraphy and lettering, she quit her corporate job to start – ‘The Bombay Lettering Company’, which has now become a home-grown brand.
Santhosh Ksheersagar
Dr. Santosh Bhaskar Kshirsagar is a B.F.A. and M.F.A. (by research) from Sir J. J. Institute of Applied Art. Mumbai, India, has been experimenting and doing research in Indian Calligraphy for more than the past 30 years. He has conducted hundreds of workshops on basic Devanagari Calligraphy and stylisation, in different parts of the world. In addition, he has been teaching Indian (especially Devanagari) Calligraphy, Typography and visual communication design, for more than two decades at JJIAA, Mumbai, and is currently the Dean of the institution.
He is a vivid scholar who has done numerous research work and paper presentations on a variety of topics in several countries, and his academic work has gained several publications over the years.
He is an integral part of the Advisory board of Typography Day, the only International Indian conference on Script, Calligraphy and Typography, since 2009. He has also been invited by ALBA University, Beirut to discuss Lebanon’s National Identity design- project. He is an academic consultant to government organizations and institutions throughout the country. He founded Aksharaya, the only organisation working for Indian script, calligraphy and Typography.
Santhosh Thottingal
Santhosh Thottingal is a language computing professional and a typeface designer. Currently he is working as Principal Software Engineer at Wikimedia Foundation.
He also leads various language computing projects at
Swathanthra Malayalam Computing, a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing
Malayalam language technology through free and open-source software. Many of his projects have had a significant impact, benefiting numerous Malayalam users on various devices. Santhosh has made significant contributions to Malayalam digital typography. Santhosh designed popular Malayalam typefaces Chilanka, Manjari, Nupuram and Malini.
In 2019, he was honored with the Maharshi Badrayan Vyas Samman by the Honorable President of India and received the Mathrubhasha Puraskaram 2019 from the Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kalady.
Shipra Rohatgi
My name is Shipra Rohatgi and I’m the artist and calligrapher behind Likhawat Designs, a 4th generation calligrapher in India. As Likhawat matured, I found immense joy in teaching and learning various languages and performing calligraphy in various manuscripts. I love to use calligraphy to write regional language Indian poems and enhanced with watercolour washes, flourishes & flowers.
Over many decades Likhawat has given me the opportunity to personalize invitations for weddings with the likes of Bollywood actors, Indian Royal families, Indian Industrialists, Designers & International Brands, be it birthdays or other important occasions.I’ve also been featured in many magazines and newpapers, and am proud that I was contracted to complete calligraphy projects on stone, metal, canvas, walls, sarees (any fabric), ceramics, wood, cars in fact just about any surface to do calligraphy on!
This experience of 3 decades plus inspired & compelled me to create Products based on Calligraphy. These products are things of use from day to day life, just a little more meaningful & colourful, aesthetically designed to make a Product – Experiential.
Sudeep Gandhi
Sudeep Gandhi is a Designer by Profession, Calligraphist by Soul, an Artist as a whole. With over 11 years of experience, he proudly calls himself Your Brand Companion.
Having worked with renowned clients such as Cadbury, Big Bazaar, Faber-Castell, and 100 Pipers he has also worked with leading advertising agencies. His passion for Lettering and Calligraphy has not only inspired him to conduct workshops at prestigious art colleges and events but also earned him a place as a TEDx Speaker.
Honored with the “Excellence in Calligraphy” award at the Jikji Exhibition 2024 in South Korea, Sudeep’s ultimate goal is to master and practice all Indian scripts along with their languages, fostering awareness of India’s rich linguistic heritage.
Suresh Wagmore
Suresh Waghmore, a multi-talented individual, is an artist, creative designer, calligrapher, and skilled pen maker based in Bengaluru. Since his graduation, he has delved into various disciplines, mastering the art of experimental non-objective abstracts, captivating watercolour landscapes and portraits, and the graceful art of calligraphy in both Kannada and English scripts. Additionally, he has honed his craft as a pen maker, creating bespoke tools for his calligraphy endeavours.
Tarundeep Girdhar
The chief designer of Graphic Design Department, NID, Ahmadabad, Tarun Deep Girdher has long and prolific years of experience in design education and academic governance. An expert practitioner of the art, he takes up projects pertaining to communication meant for rural community. His major research areas include Gurmukhi script, social behavior and indigenous visual culture.
Vinoth Kumar
Vinoth Kumar is an artist, designer, typographer, and calligrapher with a deep passion for art, design, and letters, especially Thamizh calligraphy. For the past 15 years, he have been exploring and practicing Thamizh calligraphy, continuously learning and evolving his style.
My journey began in childhood, designing signboards in Thamizh. This early experience led me to study at the College of Fine Arts, Chennai, where I discovered English calligraphy and soon began blending those techniques into my Thamizh work.
With few resources or references, I developed my own unique approach, inspired by signboard art and traditional scripts. Today, I actively share my work on Instagram, promoting Thamizh calligraphy while exploring modern styles, tools, and digital techniques to keep the art form alive and evolving.
D Udayakumar
Dr D. Udaya Kumar is an Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Design, at the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, India.
He is the designer of the Indian Rupee Symbol.
He has a PhD and Master’s degree in Design (Visual communication) from Industrial Design Centre, IIT Bombay. He completed his Bachelor’s degree in Architecture from the School of Architecture and Planning, Anna University, Chennai. Before joining his PhD, he worked in a monthly magazine – Intelligent Computing CHIP for a renowned publishing house in Mumbai.
His areas of interest include Visual Communication, Design Research and Architecture.