
I am Nikheel Aphale (1979), born and raised in Mumbai, India, a historically and culturally rich country with striking diversity in nature, art, music, food,​ languages,​ etc. I have been practicing calligraphy for the past 15 years; though I predominantly focus on the Devanagri script.
I am currently based out of Bangalore, south India. I also have a graphic design practice called Studio Em & En with my wife Maithili. You can get in touch with me at anikheel@gmail.com.
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Education:​
• Undergraduate degree in Applied Arts (Bachelor in Fine Arts), L S Raheja School of Arts, Mumbai, 1995-2000​
• Post-graduate diploma in Visual Communication; specialization in Graphic Design, National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad, 2003-06​
• One-week residential course and two-year long online course on advanced calligraphy by master calligraphy Brody Neuenschwander, Brugge, Belgium, 2015 & 2020-21
​​Exhibitions:
Solo:
2024: Nirakar Akar, Artisera, Bangalore International Centre (BIC), Bangalore
2023: Sacred Strokes II, Artisera, Bangalore
2020: Sacred Strokes I, Artisera, Bangalore
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Group:
2023
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The Asian Calligraphy Exhibition, Seoul Calligraphy Museum, South Korea (2022)
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The World Calligraphy Biennale, Jeollabuk, South Korea (2015, 2017)
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KaChaTaThaPa, International Calligraphy Exhibition, Kochi, Kerala (Since 2019)
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Miraj International Calligraphy Exhibition, Institute of Indo-Islamic Art and Culture, Bangalore
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SCALE, Artisera, Bangalore
2022
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A Brush with Silence, Bruges, Belgium (online)
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Cheongju Jikji World Calligraphy Exhibition, South Korea (2019, 2021)
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Me, You and the world, Artisera, Bangalore
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Mixed Bag, Artisera, Bangalore
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2021
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Trail of Hope, Artisera, Bangalore
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Forms of Faith, Artisera, Bangalore
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2020
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India Art Festival, Artisera, Mumbai
2019
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Centre D’art, Auroville as part of a residency, South India
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Tool art, National Library of Singapore, Singapore
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2018
Gandhi Virasat Kaagazkala, an exhibition on Mahatma Gandhi’s thoughts expressed through calligraphy on handmade paper, IGNCA, Delhi
2016
Zones of Privacy, books, sketchbooks as a work of art, Chatterjee & Lal, Mumbai
2015
Fibre Fables, a collaborative art show between eleven artists and the carpet weavers of Raj Group, Panipat, The Stainless Gallery, Delhi
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2014
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Calligraphy tells the beauty, an exhibition of calligraphy works by
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Korean and Indian artists, Korean Cultural Centre, Delhi, India,
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Haanji Festival, Korean Cultural Centre, Delhi, India
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One Asia Project, Taipei, Taiwan
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2012
One Asia Project, Delhi
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2011
RASA, Russian Centre of Science and Culture, Delhi
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2010
Letterformative, Mocha Arthouse, Delhi
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Features and accolades:
• Awarded ‘excellence in calligraphy’ at Jikji International Calligraphy Exhibition, South Korea 2024
​• An artwork longlisted for the Jackson Painting Prize 2023
• Invited to participate and showcase the work in prominent calligraphy events in South Korea including the World Calligraphy Biennale, the Cheongju Jikji World Calligraphy Exhibition, and
the Asian Calligraphy Festival
• Work selected and published in Typism since 2021, curated collections of the world’s best type
and lettering
• Calligraphy works were published in a few annual juried issues of Letter Arts Review an esteemed international calligraphy magazine from USA
• Winner of the prestigious blue elephant at Kyoorius Design Award 2018 for ‘Harper Perennial Series’ under the ‘Design for Books’ category
• Firaq Gorakhpuri, Ajai Mansingh, Roli Books, was a finalist in the second Oxford Bookstore
Book Cover Prize 2016
• Speaker at TEDx Shiv Nadar University, NOIDA, India
• Recipient of a gold award for outstanding work in Calligraphy (Callihunt 2016); organized by
Achyut Palav School of Calligraphy, Mumbai (APSC), 2016
• Featured as an ‘Artist of the Week’ on ‘The New Creative India’; a television series on NDTV Good Times, 2014
• Invited to exhibit for ‘20 Under 35’ – as an emerging designer at DesignXDesign, at the Alliance française, Delhi, India, 2014
• Work and interviews have been featured in Portraits of Indian Design Dr Alka Pande, Juggernaut, Vogue, Platform, NDTV (TV Channel), Kyoorius, POOL, Desi Creative, and many blogs, and websites
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​​​Workshops and teaching:
​• Ecole Intuit Lab, Bangalore
• Avantika University, Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh
• Mudra Institute of Communications, (MICA), Ahmedabad
• National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Bangalore & Panchkula
• SASI Creative Institute of Design, Coimbatore
• Srishti school of art and design, Bangalore
• Strate School of Design, Bangalore
• The Valley School, Bangalore
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• Aichi Association, Ladakh
• Kalakshar (design festival), Banaras Hindu University (BHU), Varanasi
• Ka Cha Ta Tha Pa (calligraphy festival), Kerala
• Callifest, Surat, Gujrat
• Sulekhan, International Calligraphy Day 2022
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• Ashoka University, Sonipat (NCR)
• AccionLabs, India
• CEPT, Ahmedabad
• Frog Design, India
• Philips Design, India
• RV School of Design, India