An Exhibition of Art and Calligraphy in the Torhaus Gallery.

Main entrance to the "Torhaus" (Gate House) exhibition

It has rained today, real vertical rain that starts heavily in the morning and has no intention of stopping until it's time for bed!  I ventured out early with my umbrella, to an English group I'd never met before, although I've been meaning to visit for the last 10 weeks!  I chose the right morning, as it was somebody's birthday, and the table was laden with nice tit-bits to eat and fruit juice or sparkling wine to drink.  We spent an interesting morning learning football vocabulary in both languages.  It was still raining at lunch time when I came home, where I had a quick cuppa, and went out again to meet Hildegard at the "Torhaus" near the Botanical Garden, where an  exhibition of work by a local calligraphy group was being displayed.  The group meets monthly at a book binders shop nearby, and I think I must join this group, as the artwork was so interesting and inspiring, particularly as words were used in such a creative way. 

It is easier to see letters and words as an artform when they are in a foreign language.  Although I can read German, the words remain interesting shapes, especially those with umlauts, the pair of little dots that are sometimes placed over the o, u, and a.  Various techniques were used to produce the forms of the letters, conventional pens and pencils, paint brushes, pieces of balsa wood, drinking straws and even fingernails dipped in watercolour or coloured inks.   Poems were written and interpeted into shapes, giving the story another dimension.  It was a very interesting exhibition which I hope to visit for a second time.

The "Torhaus" (Gate House) has an identical partner facing it across the road, and they were built in the classical style in 1820, together with a promenade and bridge over the River Oker.  Braunschweig was a walled city, and many of the old entrances are marked by similar gate houses and bridges.  I like the soft yellow colour of the buildings with their stocky and purposeful white columns.  The Botanical Garden is to the right of this photo and the building behind is part of Braunschweig University's Department of Plant Science.

The Torhaus at Fallersleber Strasse.