Vasily Kassab describes himself as ‘Russian Syrian or Syrian Russian’. He grew up in Latakia, Syria, graduated from the American University in Beirut, Lebanon, and started his career as a multidisciplinary designer in Milan, Italy. Vasily moved to Moscow 3 years ago, confessing that back then the city seemed exotic to him since he had never lived in Russia before.
Now Vasily is a creative director at a branding agency and an Arabic calligraphy enthusiast. Having a background in graphic design and a passion for calligraphy, Vasily founded the Arabic Calligraphy School in Moscow.
“We have people from different industries joining the course. Some of them want to study calligraphy for religious reasons: they want to know more about the visual culture they are learning about through religious texts; and some people are more into the arts: they want to know calligraphy as an art form.”
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