EASTERN ART & CHINESE PAINTINGS POETRY WORKSHOP

Sat 13 Jun 2026, 10.30am–4pm

At the Museum

One-day practical session in the Ashmolean Learning Studio

Tickets are £70 each. Booking is essential

Tickets coming soon

With Sascha Akhtar, poet and translator

Work with poet and translator Sascha Akhtar, to produce asemic poems, which explore meaning beyond language.

The ‘asemic’ refers to forms of communication and expression that use a visual lexicon.

Sascha will guide you through the Pat Suet-Bik Hui & The Three Perfectionists exhibition in Gallery 11, looking at examples of poetry, calligraphy and painting.

Inspired by this exhibition, you will then have a chance to create asemic poems yourself before connecting your newfound practical knowledge to the Chinese artistic tradition during an in-depth study session.

The importance of calligraphy to Chinese art has meant that writing has always functioned as a visual medium, bridging the gap between the painterly brushstroke and the poetic word.

This movement of writing beyond the meaning of words will be further connected to Chinese philosophies of nature, where a true understanding of reality requires a silent, non-linguistic perception of the formal unity of mind and world.