Kodai Moji Conference and Demonstration with Maria Eugenia Manrique
María Eugenia Manrique
María Eugenia Manrique is a visual artist based in Barcelona. She holds a degree in Fine Arts, with training in China and Japan in painting and calligraphy.
She began her Shodō practice with Abiko Keizo in Barcelona. Later, she studied calligraphy with the Nihon Shuji Kyoiku Zaidan Foundation under master Kampo Harada, where she obtained the 4th Dan in Japanese calligraphy. She has also been a disciple of master calligrapher Hsiao Lin Liu.
Since 2014, she has continued learning and practicing Shodō with master Norio Nagayama as a student and member of his Bokushin school.
Her work has been exhibited in multiple museums and private galleries in different countries: Venezuela, Spain, Mexico, Colombia, New York, Washington, Boston, Puerto Rico, Italy, Argentina, Japan, and China. She is represented in various museums, institutions, and private collections.
In 2023, she was invited by the Reina Sofía Museum in Madrid to perform a calligraphic action as part of the exhibition Antoni Tàpies. The Practice of Art, commemorating the centenary of Antoni Tàpies’ birth (1923–2012). The performative action took place in the Sabatini Building, with Antoni Tàpies’ work Cos as the backdrop, creating a large-format calligraphy of the kanji ⾝ (body) in Sōsho 草書 style.
She has received various recognitions and awards.
Currently, she teaches sumi-e painting and calligraphy at Centre Zen Barcelona.
Shodō, the Way of Writing
Creation of the Gen Mu Shodō Dōjō at Musubu and 1st Activity Cycle
This cycle is born with the intention of introducing Shodō, the way of writing, in a practical, theoretical, and exhibition format, 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 of 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 grand master Norio Nagayama. Shodō is an ancestral artistic and spiritual discipline that integrates gesture, breath, attention, and presence, and constitutes a profound way of connecting 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 is born at Musubu, with the purpose of welcoming all people 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 become part of his own school, Bokushin.
The Dōjō is conceived as a space for continuous work, with monthly meetings to practice Shodō as a discipline and as a sustained practice over time.
The goal is to bring Shodō and Japanese culture closer to Catalonia, creating spaces for meeting and learning open to people with or without previous experience.
