Celebrate the opening of Becoming Words with an evening of art, conversation, and live performance by Hekiun Oda and Bahman Panahi. Talk with the Artists: 5:00–6:30 p.m. Performance Begins: 6:30 p.m. The exhibition brings together two artists whose practices begin in distinct calligraphic traditions—Japanese Shodō and Persian Nastaliq—and move toward new forms of abstraction, embodiment, and connection. For both artists, the written word is not simply a symbol to be read. Through brush, ink, gesture, breath, sound, and rhythm, it becomes an experience. Oda’s work considers calligraphy as a universal architecture of connection, shaped by the natural world and the energy of the body. Panahi’s Musicalligraphy brings Persian calligraphy into dialogue with music, abstraction, and ideas such as mehr: love, longing, and peace. Together, their works invite visitors to encounter words as conditions of presence, rain, water, music, and love. The calligraphy performance is a specially curated experience in which both artists will share their distinctive approaches to the art form. Hekiun Oda will present his unique Sekijō Kigō practice, while Bahman Panahi will collaborate with Chicago Chinese American musician Kerry Leung for a special Musicalligraphy performance. Special food representing both cultures will be available. Becoming Words exhibition and event series is made possible through a collaboration between the Seldon Institute and the Heritage Museum of Asian Art.