where words
become art

This one still makes me smile because I absolutely did not see it coming. I had already been working with Nicolas and his family for quite some time through the restaurant. One day, during a meeting for something completely unrelated, the topic of calligraphy came up. I casually mentioned that I was doing workshops and that I was looking for a new place to host them. Nicolas looked at me and said, almost offhandedly, “Why don’t you do something with my brother? He has a reall

When Kreativiti Otrobanda first reached out to me, I’ll be honest: I felt nervous. It was the first time I was being invited to take part in something like this. A creative festival. A public setting. A space shared with other artists. Up until that point, my workshops had felt intimate, familiar, safe. This felt completely different. But I reminded myself of something important: calligraphy is an applied art. It’s not something reserved for a few. It’s something anyone can

Even though calligraphy has been part of my life for more than nine years, 2025 was the year I finally allowed it to become official. It started with a simple question a friend of mine asked: “When are you going to teach us calligraphy, Lala?” Most of my friends have asked me this question over the years but I never really gave it that much thought. But lately, I felt like I have parted ways with my creative side and decided to give it a chance. I didn’t expect much. I truly