Message of Muriel Gaggini, President of the MG School of Latin Calligraphy

Good evening to everyone. I am Muriel Gaggini, President of the MG School of Latin Calligraphy in Tokyo.
I am honored to see so many of you gathered here tonight and thank you for taking your time to participate in this event.
Japan and Turkey have enjoyed friendly ties since the Meiji Era and now 120 years have passed.

However, there are still a lot to be learned from each other and with the aim of strengthening
both countries relationship Japan has initiated the project "2010 the year of Japan in Turkey".

This year 70 cultural, social, economical and political events have been planned throughout the country.
One among them will take place at the prestigious Sabanci Museum in Istanbul on April 14th until the end of June.

The calligraphies on exhibit will be Arabic, Japanese and Latin letters.
Since the advent of writing in the Orient, calligraphy has been an important feature of Japanese culture.
It has equally occupied an important place in the world of Islam and in Europe.

The Sabanci Museum is the owner of a beautiful collection of calligraphy from the Ottoman Empire.
In Japan, the Kampo Museum possesses and extensive collection of Japanese and Chinese calligraphy included artworks
from Master calligrapher Harada Kampo. Under the umbrella of the Kampo Museum,
The MG School of Calligraphy is also the owner of manuscripts leaves dating back to the medieval times in Europe.

Thanks to the cooperation between these three entities, namely the Sakip Sabanci Museum,
Kampo Museum and the MG School, the exhibit of Arabic, Oriental and Latin calligraphy is the first of its kind in the world.

When the Republic of Turkey was founded by Ataturk in 1923,
it was decided to use the Latin alphabet instead of Arabic letters in order to write Turkish.
Today the education system in Turkey is based on the Latin-Roman alphabet.
Arabic is still used by those who wish to practice traditional calligraphy but few people among the public are able to read it.

As a participant to "2010 year of Japan in Turkey",
the MG School of Latin Calligraphy has selected 21 of its best artists among the 80 calligraphers presently enrolled in the school.
Famous quotes by Ataturk and other well-known texts and poems in Turkish,
who represent part of the Turkish culture have been executed in Latin calligraphy by Japanese artists for the first time.

We hope that the people of Turkey enjoy seeing the texts they are familiar with,
presented to them in this beautiful manner as well as other texts related to many aspects of Turkish culture and its land.
Through these artworks the people of Japan should be proud to admire the work and delightful creativity achieved by Japanese artists.

After Istanbul, the collection you can admire today will come back to Japan,
and be put on display at the Kampo Museum in Kyoto from November until February next year.

Thanks to the generosity of His Excellency Mr. Sermet Atacanl
it is possible to have a preview of this exhibit of Turkish texts before it travels to Turkey.
His Excellency selected many of the poems and quotes that you see here on display.
Thank you for your contribution and your patience during the past two years.

I also wish to thank the people at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
Japan Foundation, Turkish Airlines and Japan Tobacco for their generous support which makes the exhibit in Istanbul possible.

Last but not least, thank you to all the outstanding artists of the MG School of Latin calligraphy who,
for the past two years have worked with the Turkish language, and produced the high level of artwork which you can admire today.

Dedication, study, patience, knowledge, control, refined taste and artistic creativity,
all these qualities are reflected in the pieces on display and contribute to strengthening the ties of friendship between Turkey and Japan.
Congratulations to you all and thank you everyone for being here and sharing these beautiful moments together.