#paper maker

In the realm of paper and book making...I played around with recycled McDonalds bags and made this beautiful brown paper with red and yellow specks floating throughout. Perfect autumnal colors. I would love to produce more of these but two bags only makes three sheets of 7"x10" and I am definitely not a big enough McDonalds fan.

Anopheles

I called a local paper maker to order some washi postcards. First, I called his smartphone, but I couldn't get through, so I called his landline. His mother answered the phone and we had a bit of a back and forth. She couldn't understand what I was saying at all. In the end, she just hung up. -I'm a customer!

I couldn't get anywhere, so I called his smartphone again and got my point. Even so, people in the country are too laid back. Even he didn't know about the leak of 10 million customer information by Japan Post Bank, which is a big problem in the city. Is the country air dead? (Although many people in the city breathe dead air, too.) The countryside air is poisonous.-Mal-Air.

Rei Morishita

田舎の空気（散文詩）

ハマダラカ

私は、和紙ハガキの注文で、ある地方の紙漉き屋さんに電話した。まず、はじめてスマートフォンに電話したところ、うまくつながらなかったので、自宅の固定電話に掛けた。彼の母親が電話に出て、ちょっと押し問答になった。私の言っていることが「全く」理解できない。終いには、勝手に電話を切った。ー私は顧客だぞ！

埒が明かないので再び彼のスマートフォンに掛けて、用は足りた。 それにしても、田舎の人はおっとりしすぎている。彼にしても、都会で大問題になっている「郵貯銀行による顧客情報１０００万人分流出の事実は知らなかった。田舎の空気が死んでいるのか？（もっとも、都会にも、死んだ空気を吸っている者が多いが。）田舎の空気は毒ガスだ。悪い・空気。

Workshop and Demonstrations Guidelines:

Demonstrations and workshops must be related to mokuhanga, Japanese woodcut printmaking.

Each presentation will be limited to a maximum of two hours including translation.

The presenter must bear the cost of required tools and materials. Work tables will be provided.

Selected presenters are expected to pay the Conference Registration fee.

To make a proposal, please submit the following:  

An outline of 300 words describing the workshop or demonstration in English or Japanese.

Three digital images in JPEG format, maximum file size 1MB each

Applicant’s biography (100 words)

Applicant’s passport-size portrait in JPEG format

Paper Presentation Subjects:

Mokuhanga History, Philosophy & Society This topic concerns the incorporation of mokuhanga in universities and community workshops, providing insight into cross-cultural issues. A study of this traditional Japanese technique can create a better understanding of Japanese history, society, gender and the concept of ‘the artist’ in Japanese culture.  

Bridge-building: Educational Mokuhanga Practice, International Exchange & Residency Programs For artists, educational practices that cultivate traditional and contemporary mokuhanga techniques can include information about international exchanges and residencies that expand horizons and inspire a younger generation of artists. While originating in Japan, mokuhanga can be seen as a vehicle for international exchange.  

Contemporary Mokuhanga Mokuhanga today has expanded across the world, and has changed to become more relevant to contemporary artists. This topic encompasses innovative artwork inspired by the technique or imagery of mokuhanga as well as work that expands mokuhanga into hybrid techniques such as installation and performance.  

Materials Suppliers The disappearance of traditional materials and their distribution network of small shops has created a challenge for artists looking for appropriate mokuhanga materials. Today new business relationships and new kinds of distribution networks are being created for tools, paper and other materials for the international community of mokuhanga artists.  

Art Markets and Mokuhanga This topic addresses the changing viewpoints of galleries and print collectors whose experiences have evolved within today’s global art market, and the challenge of adapting the art market to the interconnected world.  

Local Practice: Mokuhanga in Hawaii and the Pacific Coast An opportunity to look at the specific combination of cultural influences from East and West that have made Hawaii and the U.S. Pacific Coast so hospitable to a new vision of mokuhanga.  

Mokuhanga, the Environment & Social Changes The technique of mokuhanga perfectly suits the growing focus on safe environmental practices that reflect new notions about sustainability in an age of climate change. Today’s print shops and schools can benefit from the non-toxic aspects of 19th century mokuhanga technology to resolve concerns about toxicity. This topic also concerns the importance of preserving hand skills in the digital age, benefitting individual artists as well as the environment.  

Artist’s Presentations This topic offers an opportunity for individual artists to present their own innovative and conceptually based mokuhanga artwork. Both emerging and established artists are encouraged to share their unique approaches to mokuhanga in their contemporary practice.

Guidelines:

Only papers that cover one of the above subjects are eligible.

Papers must be in English or Japanese and under 3000 words. Papers may include images.

The oral presentation of a paper will be limited to a maximum of 20 minutes.   Extensions will not be allowed.

Presenters must submit the presentation’s full text in advance to be published in the Conference Proceedings book. The deadline for full text submissions will be announced after the presenters have been selected.

Selected presenters are expected to pay the conference registration fee.

Checklist for Paper Presentation Proposals:

A 300 word abstract of the conference paper in English or Japanese formatted in Word or equiavalent

Presenter’s biography in 100 words

Passport size photo of the presenter

Entry Form for Submission:Paper Presentation

Deadline March 31, 2017