Friday March 8, 2019 - 18:00 > 20:00

21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa >  Lecture Room

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• Nature and Chemistry, Tradition and Innovation, Wellbeing and Sickness in Printmaking.

   Friedhard KIEKEBEN

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Throughout the 1980s artists became increasingly aware of serious health issues afflicting many professionals working in traditional printmaking. The early nineties saw a number of important initiatives to investigate the problem, begin to make processes and workshops safer, and seek alternatives. For decades artists and doctors had suspected that some of the materials that were used in printmaking could be quite dangerous - even life threatening - but finally there was proof, along with a movement across the profession trying to make the medium safer. In 1993 Friedhard Kiekeben was hired as a government funded researcher in Nontoxic Printmaking at Edinburgh Printmakers, and developed a long standing collaboration with Keith Howard and other experts. He developed several of his own innovations and new etching methods. Since 1994 Friedhard wrote widely on this subject. Mr. Kiekeben’s talk will focus on things that affect us all.

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• Innovation in Community: the Zea Mays Printmaking model.

   Liz CHALFIN

 

Zea Mays Printmaking is one of the first community printmaking studios in the USA with a focus on safer practices and is currently the largest. From a modest beginning in 2000, ZMP has grown to become a leader in the field. In addition to maintaining a state-of-the art studio for over 100 artist members, Zea Mays Printmaking offers workshops, international residencies, internships, mentorships, contract printing services, exhibitions and an ongoing research program.

 

In images and words, founding director Liz Chalfin will describe the evolution of Zea Mays Printmaking as a model of a community based printmaking studio with a non-toxic mission and an international reach.  She will discuss the challenges of creating and growing a community studio as well as the incredible opportunities that arise in the process. Her talk will emphasize the research program that is at the heart of Zea Mays Printmaking’s mission.  Post-graduate student interns conduct primary research into safer products and practices, document their findings and share them online through the Zea Mays Printmaking website. Chalfin will share highlights from the research program, including a product that has gone to market and others that have been adopted worldwide.

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• Non-toxic: sense or nonsense?

   Marnix EVERAERT

 

During his practice as a professor in the non-toxic studio at the Academy for Visual Arts, Ghent - Belgium for the last 19 years, Marnix Everaert heard a lot of sense and nonsense about safer printmaking. Though being a strong advocate for this way of working, he always kept a certain scepticism and is still struggling with some aspects of safer printmaking. Is this path we are walking the right or wrong one? Do we have to get rid of all what traditional techniques offer us? Why is the big change to safer printmaking happening so slow and is even rejected by educational institutions, artist and (contract) printmakers?

Marnix is aware that this talk may raise more questions than answers but believes questioning the safer printmaking movement will just add to it’s value.

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• The status and issues of printmaking education in Japan.

   Makoto DOI and Shichio MINATO

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Many art colleges, universities and printmaking studios in Japan are still not fully aware of the problems caused by certain traditional materials. Artist, professors and students sometimes work with these materials without having any or just partial knowledge about what they are using.

Makoto DOI and Professor Shichio MINATO will look back upon the history of safer printmaking in Japan and discuss the present situation and issues of printmaking education.

Makoto DOI is founder and director of Studio Kitayama in Kyoto. He has been a visiting artist in many Japanese educational institutions.

Shichio MINATO is professor at the University of Fukui, mainly conducting research on methods promoting safer printmaking techniques.

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Saturday March 9, 2019 - 10:00 > 12:00

21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa > Lecture Room

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• A Green Dream? Panel discussion.

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During this panel discussion Liz CHALFIN, Friedhard KIEKEBEN, Musashi ATSUHIKO, Makoto DOI and Marnix EVERAERT will discus the topic 'Non-toxic printmaking - A Green Dream?' from their personal point of view. Shichio MINATO will moderate this discussion panel.

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