ACASHODO Presentation, Shodō Catalonia Japan exhibition and performance

The Catalan Association of Japanese Calligraphy (ACASHODO) organized the exhibition “Shodō Catalonia–Japan”, with the participation of 16 renowned Japanese calligraphers from the city of Narita, who presented original works created specifically for the occasion. The exhibition was completed with creations by artist members of ACASHODO, generating an intercultural dialogue between Japan and Catalonia through the art of the stroke and writing.

The exhibition was initially presented at the Centre Cultural de la Mercè, as part of the Shodō Matsuri Festival, consolidating this meeting as a space for the international projection of contemporary calligraphic art.

Currently, the exhibition is being presented at Musubu, as part of the programming dedicated to the art of Shodō during the month of April.

In this context, the ACASHODO Association will be officially presented and the genesis of the exhibition will be shared, highlighting its vocation as a cultural bridge between Japan and Catalonia, led by its president, Gerardo D. Cristante.

PERFORMANCE: EL TRAÇ BRUT

The Dirty Stroke is not a style or a technique, but an inscription device.
The stroke appears as an immediate record of forces passing through the body: variations in pressure, breathing, attention, or trembling.
Like a seismograph, the hand does not represent; it records.
The paper becomes a listening surface and the stroke becomes the visible trace of disturbances—internal and external—passing through the body.
In this practice, the kanji functions as a structure that activates the stroke.
It is not about copying a form, but about activating a gesture.
Each action opens a field of tension between emptiness, energy, and form.
The stroke appears as an unrepeatable event: an inscription where body, instrument, and sign coincide for an instant before disappearing.

By Gerardo D. Cristante.

ACASHODO – Catalan Association of Japanese Calligraphy

A non-profit cultural entity dedicated to the promotion and dissemination of the art of Shodō in Catalonia, as well as the promotion of artistic and cultural exchange between Japan and our territory.

The association was born with a vocation for service that seeks to connect the constellation of cultural agents, artists, and institutions linked to the art of the stroke and Japanese calligraphy. Through activities, exhibitions, meetings, and collaborative projects, ACASHODO works to create spaces for dialogue between tradition and contemporaneity, bringing the aesthetic, philosophical, and cultural dimension of this discipline closer to the public.

From this perspective, ACASHODO aims to contribute to the dissemination of Shodō as a living artistic practice, capable of generating links between cultures and opening up new ways of understanding gesture, stroke, and writing.

Gerardo D. Cristante

Argentine artist, curator, and cultural manager based in Catalonia, residing in Vall de Llémena (Girona).

He trained in Stage Direction at the University Institute of Buenos Aires and developed an initial stage linked to stage creation, exploring interdisciplinary formats between performing arts, image, and performative action.

After arriving in Girona, he came into contact with the artist Mihoko Ono at Casa Asia (Barcelona), beginning his practice of Shodō, which came to occupy a central place in his work. Since then, he has oriented his practice towards the research of the stroke and ink, developing the artistic line Traç Brut, in dialogue with contemporary Japanese calligraphy, art brut, and performance.

He is the co-founder and president of ACASHODO (Catalan Association of Japanese Calligraphy), from where he promotes research, training, and dissemination projects for Shodō.

Shodō, the way of writing

Creation of the Gen Mu Shodō Dōjō at Musubu and 1st Cycle of Activities

This cycle was born with the desire to make Shodō, the way of writing, known in a practical, theoretical, and exhibition-based manner, together with the presentation and official inauguration of the Gen Mu Shodō Dōjō, which will be based at Musubu.

A Dōjō (道場) is not simply a school or a gym; it is, literally, the “place where the Way is followed.” A sacred space for personal transformation.

In this case, a space dedicated to Shodō, led by Eva Ibáñez Cano, representative of the Bokushin school in Barcelona, and its creator and grandmaster Norio Nagayama. Shodō is an ancestral artistic and spiritual discipline that integrates gesture, breathing, attention, and presence, and constitutes a profound path of connection between body and mind. Through the stroke, Shodō makes the inner state visible and invites a conscious practice that transcends the formal result to focus on the process.

Gen Mu Shodō Dōjō was born at Musubu with the purpose of welcoming everyone interested in the way of writing. Thanks to the support of the great calligrapher and master Norio Nagayama, we are launching the Dōjō to follow his teachings and be part of his own school, Bokushin.

The Dōjō is designed as a space for continuous work, with monthly meetings to practice Shodō as a discipline and as a practice sustained over time.

The goal is to bring Shodō and Japanese culture closer to Catalonia, generating meeting and learning spaces open to people with or without previous experience.