Aug 27, 2021
Typography Day 2021
Typography Day will be held online for the fourteenth time on 27th and 28th of August 2021 hosted by IDC School of Design (IDC), Indian… show more
Calligraphy manuals are available to learn balbodh (basic) calligraphy in 10 Indian scripts.
Slide 1 of 6: Calligraphy manuals for balbodh calligraphy in 10 Indian scripts
About Aksharaya
Rooted in tradition and driven by curiosity, Aksharaya is a space where Indian scripts are studied, practiced, and reinterpreted. From calligraphy workshops to typographic explorations, we create experiences that connect people with the richness of letterforms and the stories they carry.
Insights & Writings
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Mar 02, 2019
Typography Day 2019
Typography Day will be organized for the Twelfth time on 2nd to 4th March 2019 at IDC School of Design (IDC), Indian Institute of… show more
Mar 01, 2018
Typography Day 2018
Typography Day will be organized for the eleventh time on 1st to 3rd March 2018 at Sir J J… show more
Jul 15, 2016
Typography Day 2016
Typography Day will be organized for the ninth time on 25th to 27th February 2016 at… show more
Mar 07, 2016
Aksharaya installation at Typoday 2016
All typography enthusiasts were invited to suggest terminologies for letterforms in Indic… show more
Previous Events
Apr 27, 2012
Aksharsanvad – An Interview with Sunil Khandbahale
“A single word can change your life”, believes Sunil Khandbahale, who made the knowledge of innumerable words available to people through his creation, the first Marathi to English talking dictionary. In his interview conducted by the iconoclassic writer Gangadhar Menon during the 13th session of… show more
Mar 02, 2012
Aksharaya at Typography Day 2012
After the first Typography Day in 2008, this year, the event was once again held at the Industrial Design Centre, IIT, Bombay. In sync with the theme of the conference, ‘Typography in Publication Design’, Aksharaya showcased an installation of newspapers mastheads collected from several nooks and… show more
Dec 19, 2011
Aksharsanvad – A Talk by Shreenand Bapat
Entitled with a masters degree in Archeology and a doctorate in Sanskrit, Dr. Shreenand Bapat, assistant curator and in-charge of manuscripts conservation at the Bhandarkar Oriental Institute, Pune, enlightened us with extensive knowledge about the several aspects involved in the making of a… show more
Nov 02, 2011
A Talk by Katharina Pieper
Aksharaya had a privelege of organising a talk Katharina Pieper, by one of the most popular calligraphers of Germany, Katharina Pieper. A calligrapher, lettering artist, designer, teacher and editor, her work has been published not only in books and journals but she has also exhibited it all across… show more
Oct 21, 2011
Aksharsanvad – A talk by Hanif Kureshi and Sarang Kulkarni
Hand Painted Type: The Last Painters of India The 8th session of Aksharsanwad was themed around the ongoing project ‘HandPaintedType’ dedicated to preserving the typographic practice of street painters around India. This project initiated by Hanif Kureshi involves documenting the typefaces of road… show more
Aug 26, 2011
Aksharsanvad – A talk by Dr. P.V Radhakrishnan
The moment we talk about type or letterforms in general, what one usually sees in the mind’s eye is an image of either handwritten letters or printed text. But in this session of Aksharsanwad, Dr.P.V Radhakrishnan, curator of the Monetary Museum of the reserve Bank of India enlightened us on a very… show more
Jun 24, 2011
Aksharsanvad – A talk by G.V. Sreekumar
Title of the Talk: 🙂 Typography Student’s Perspective Faculty of Typography at the Industrial Design Centre, Prof. G.V. Sreekumar is one of those persons who has had the privilege to design a Malayalam typeface on Vinyas, the skeletal approach based font design software developed by Prof.… show more
Apr 29, 2011
Aksharsanvad – A talk by Prof. Vinay Saynekar
Title of the talk: RK is RK (Re-introducing R. K. Joshi) “Today, we are privileged to take a peep into the sketchbook of a legend called R.K. Joshi”, said Prof. Vinay Saynekar, about Prof. R.K Joshi, a designer whose passion and love for letterforms has inspired and created generations of design… show more
Mar 03, 2011
Aksharaya at Typography Day 2011
For the very first time, honoring the participation of several international speakers at an Indian script centric conference, ‘Typo-graphy Day 2011’ made its mark in the history of Indian Typography. This time it was hosted by the National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad in collaboration with the… show more
Feb 25, 2011
Aksharsanvad – A Talk by Mahindra Patel
Winner of the 4th Gutenberg Award, Mahendrabhai Patel, spoke about his 40 years of professional experience in Font map and Signage Design. Mahendra Patel is a retired senior faculty member from the National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad, India. As he began the session, he narrated an instance… show more
Dec 24, 2010
Aksharsanvad – An interview with Kamal Shedge
In the history of Devnagari Typography, the contribution in the area of ‘Typographic Design’, made by Shri Kamal Shedge is simply unparallel. In his long professional span of over three and half decades, (starting from early 60s), Shri Shedge has made people look at the letters as a ‘beautiful’… show more
Oct 29, 2010
Aksharsanvad – A talk by Mukund Gokhale
One of the senior most type designers from India, Mukund Gokhale’s plethora of work includes Design Parameters for Devnagari, Terminology for Indian Scripts, Writing systems of Indian regional Scripts, Manuscript analysis, design and calligraphic studies, Frequency evaluation of phonetic and graphic… show more
Oct 01, 2010
Workshop & Camp 2010
Aksharaya in collaboration with Soma Commercial organised an outstation workshop and camp in which 20 young Designers from Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore were invited to participate. The ‘Indian Letterform In 3D’ a first of its kind event was aimed towards exploring a new aspect of Indian letterform… show more
Aug 27, 2010
Aksharsanvad – A talk by Girish Dalvi
The first session of Aksharsanvad was conducted by Girish Dalvi who was pursuing his PhD at the Industrial Design Centre in the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay. His PhD research included areas such as, History and Ontology of Devanagari typefaces, Indic Typeface Design, Indian Language… show more
Feb 27, 2010
Aksharaya at Typoday 2010
At the stroke of the brush, the ink shall drop, lines and curves, the letters shall flow out, in ten directions, in ten languages they shall flow, they shall expand they shall grow. The students of Sir J. J. Institute of Applied Art presented a magnificent event – Aksharodaya. The alphabets of ten… show more
Feb 22, 2009
Aksharanjali 2009
Aksharanjali was the first calligraphy exhibition organised by Aksharaya in honor of Late Prof. R. K. Joshi. This exhibit was held at the ‘Directotate of Art Gallery’ in Sir J. J. Institute of Applied Arts. This event saw a generous participation of many calligraphers Prof. Santosh Kshirsagar, Prof.… show more
Jul 01, 2006
Camp 2006 & Calendar 2007
Twelve artists that included four students, four teachers and four industry professionals attended the October 2006 Aksharaya workshop held in Munavli, Alibaugh. This was a sincere attempt to look beyond the normality of calligraphy and explore its potentials; and the 2007 calendar is the standing… show more