Calligraphy - penmanship

Organizer

Croatian School Museum, Trg Republike Hrvatske 4, 10000 Zagreb www.hsmuzej.hr

On the Behalf of the Organizer

Štefka Batinić

Author of the Exhibition

Kristina Gverić

Visual Design of the Exhibition

Kristina Džepina-Bajić

Marketing

Marijana Bračić

Educational Programme

Ivana Dumbović Žužić

Technical associate

Fredy Fijačko

The exhibition and catalogue were financed by the City Office for Culture and the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Croatia.

From December 22, 2021 to January 13, 2022

With its exhibition and accompanying catalogue entitled Calligraphy - penmanship the Croatian School Museum brings concludes his birthday year. After  120 years of continuous museological, exhibitional and educational  work, the only museum that collects and keeps material related to the history of Croatian education and pedagogy found itself in an unenvious position and closed its doors to public due to the effects of the earthquake. Accordingly the Museum moved its actions into the virtual world. The public was able to see its virtual exhibitions, virtual pedagogical programmes as well as the Museum’s publishing activities. Furthermore the Museum represented itself by taking part in many manifestations and events, as well as by organizing exhibitions and activities outside its own premises. On this occasion we present our work, a new exhibition of the Croatian School Museum, on the premises of the National and University Library in Zagreb. The theme, still fresh and interesting, is the calligraphy.

The story of calligraphy as a subject of instruction begins with the story on the development of script, first writing systems and the definition of the term calligraphy or penmanship. We then study historical development of calligraphy instruction in these areas (of the Croatia today) from the time of the old border-land school, the Croatian Military Border until the time of the first Croatian school laws (in the second half of the 19th century). Through syllabuses of the 20th century we follow tasks of calligraphy instruction and study the ways of how it was taught and the quantity of the content to be learned.

The following is the overview of the basic features of calligraphy, the subject of instruction taught in Croatian school up until the middle of the 20th century. We explore the basic characteristics of the penmanship, letter layout, requirements to be met by teachers as well as those placed on pupils. In addition to that we are defining the body posture, the way to hold a copy-book and a pen. We examine calligraphy in the classroom, methodics and the historical development of teaching methods.

The answer to the question what do we need for calligraphy lays in our exhibits. They testify on the way calligraphy was conducted as a subject of instruction as well as what was used to master it. Through the exhibition and the catalogue we represent school desks, blackboards and tablets, school bags, wall panels, wide variety pencil cases, pens and penholders, inkwells, ink dryers and the enviable number of copy-books.

We mentioned the prominent calligraphy teachers and authors of copy-books. One of them was Franjo Klaić with its enormous experience in calligraphy instruction as well as Ljudevit Modec, the  teacher and headmaster of the teacher training schools in Zagreb and Petrinja.

In conclusion one must mention an interesting debate held among teachers and physicians at the end of the 19th and at the beginning of the 20th century. The subject of discussion   was which script – oblique or upright – should be taught in schools.

Calligraphy – penmanship is an exhibition project inspired by rich museum holdings, valuable objects kept in museum collections, the archives and the Museum’s library. The comprehensive list of catalogue units as well as more than 300 original  exhibits introduced to public through the exhibition prove the importance and the meaning of the calligraphy as a subject of instruction for the history of the Croatian education.