On the morning of December 5, 2015, hosted by CAFA, undertaken by the Department of Printmaking at the School of Plastic Arts, CAFA, co-organized by the Printmaking Art Committee at China Artists Association and Guanlan Original Printmaking Base, the First International Forum of the Printmaking Art School Deans & the Teaching Achievement Exhibition opened in the teaching hall of CAFA. The forum was initiated by Wang Huaxiang, Director of the Department of Printmaking, CAFA, aimed at uniting printmaking forces from the international colleges and universities, discussing the extension and evolution of the concept of printmaking in the aspects of teaching, creation and social application, thus there was some consensus on the problems concerning the educational and academic circles – for example, what is the connection between prints and the artists’ way of thinking? Whether the former shape or the latter shape is better? What element makes the classic explanation of print and the extension concept form the two extreme differences in the continuation of the traditional and move towards contemporary?

CAFA’s leaders who attended the opening ceremony included: President of CAFA Fan Di’an, Wang Xiaolin, Assistant to President of CAFA, Dean of the Academic Affairs Office, Ma Lu, Dean of the School of Plastic Arts and Director of the Department of Oil Painting, Wang Yingsheng, Party Secretary and Vice President of the School of Plastic Arts, Zhang Lujiang, Director of the Department of Fundamental Education for Plastic Arts, Wang Huaxiang, Director of the Department of Printmaking, CAFA, etc. And the guests who participated in the forum: Brian Shure, Assistant Professor of Printmaking at US Rhode Island School of Design, Alicia Candiani, Director of Argentina’s Ace International Artist in Residence Program, Cai Feng, Dean of Printmaking Department, China Academy of Art, Dimitrije Pecic, Dean of Belgrade Faculty of Fine Arts, Deng Yaoming, Dean of Printmaking Department, Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, Faisel Abdu ’Allah, Tandem Press & professor of The University of Wisconsin-Madison, Guo Jianwen, Dean of Printmaking Department, Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts, Karen Oremus, Head of Graphic Program at UAE Zayed University (Abu Dhabi), Kong Guoqiao, Deputy Dean of School of Fine Art at China Academy of Art, Kristien van de Oever, Head of The Dutch AGA Amsterdam Printmaking Studio, Krzysztof Tomalski, Dean of Graphic Department, Krakow Academy of Fine Arts, Li Chuan, Dean of Printmaking Department, Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts, Machael Kempson, Senior Lecturer and Convenor of Printmaking Studies at The University of New South Wales Art & Design in Sydney, Peter Bosteels, Dean of Graphic Design, Belgium Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp, Sonoyama Harumi, Head of Japan ARUMI Printmaking Studio, Wen Zhongyan, Deputy Dean of the Department of Painting, Academy of Arts & Design at Tsinghua University, Xu Baozhong, Dean of Printmaking Department, Lu Xun Academy of Fine Arts, Yang Feng, Dean of Printmaking Department at Xi’an Academy of Fine Arts, Zhang Fang, Dean of Printmaking Department at Nanjing University of the Arts, Zhang Guanghui, Dean of Printmaking Department at Hubei Institute of Fine Arts, Li Kang, Director of the Guanlan Original Printmaking Base, etc.

With attention and powerful support from: On Multi-Dimensional Evolution of Printmaking Teaching & Creating

President of CAFA Fan Di’an addressed the opening ceremony and highly anticipated forum and the development of the world of printed art: with the global cultural collision and communication, how to develop the print that both had a long history in China and the world was one of the important topics in the circles of print and contemporary art.

Brian Shure, Assistant Professor of Printmaking at US Rhode Island School of Design gave a speech on behalf of the invited foreign guests, and said that China was like the birthplace of printmaking, so that it was undoubtedly the best choice to hold the 1st International Forum of the Printmaking Art School Deans in China, while the forum itself also offered the western educators an opportunity to understand the development and teaching experiences of prints in China and the world. Kong Guoqiao, Deputy Dean of School of Fine Art at China Academy of Art gave a speech on behalf of the invited local guests: Along with the development of the global art, printed art had formed new situations and problems. The teaching of print in the universities and colleges of art was the key to dealing with problems, and “print art” was a flowing concept, constantly expanding along with the development of the times and humanity. Today, the virtual space created by the digital art also gradually influenced the relationship between art and the image, this also offers new possibilities and opportunities for the development of printed art.

As the initiator of the forum, Wang Huaxiang addressed the opening ceremony and talked about the connotation of the theme, and the organization and planning work of the forum. It was a short time before Chinese print was able to really enter the level of “creative level”, but along with the development of Chinese economy and culture, Chinese printed art had also had a new development. The holding of the forum was in order to build the coordinates and correlation between “vertical” artistic continuity and “horizontal” international art publicity of the printed art.

With a Start and No End: Topics of IFPASD

The 1st IFPASD lasted for 2 days on December 5 and December 6, and the theme was “With a Start and No End: On the Multi-Dimensional Evolution of Printmaking Teaching & Creating”, while the three topics discussed at the forum were: firstly, Research & Cognition, focusing on basic concepts and discussing how you guide the students to have a better understanding of printmaking; secondly, Interpretation & Transformation, focusing on the knowledge background and structure of artists and discussing how they get inspiration from college programs and start diverse personal experiments; thirdly, Experiments & Beyond, focusing on the printmaking history and status quo to explore unnoticed and unknown elements of printmaking concepts as well as their potential and value. The speakers and the topics are as follows:

Part 1 Research & Cognition: The Research and Cognition: Inspiration from Chinese Traditional Printmaking by Brian Shure, With a Start and No End: Chinese Printmaking and The Printmaking Department, CAFA by Wang Huaxiang, Conscious Printmaking: the Education System of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp by Peter Bosteels, Outdoors Painting and Printmaking Inside Studio by Zhang Guanghui, Reminiscence of Studying and Creating Lithographs by Sonoyama Harumi, Begin With Drawing: Teaching System of Printmaking Department in Lu Xun Academy of Fine Arts by Xu Baozhong, Belgrade Faculty of Fine Arts - Printmaking Department by Dimitrije Pecic, The Water Print Teaching of the Printmaking Department in Nanjing University of the Arts by Zhang Fang, Comprehensive Printmaking: Presentation of Intention inside Materials by Yang Feng.

Part 2 Interpretation & Transformation: Prezentation Alintaglio Method by Krzysztof Tomalski, Direct Drawing and Stencil Printing by Guo Jianwen, AGA – Amsterdams Grafisch Atelier by Kristien van de Oever, Dissociation and Aggregation: The New Normal of Printmaking by Deng Yaoming, The Case Study of Printmaking in Academy of Arts and Design, Tsinghua University by Wen Zhongyan, The Perpetual Motion of Printmaking and Its Place in the United Arab Emirates by Karen Oremus, A Person’s Face：Begin with the Training Class of Woodcut Portrait by Cai Feng.

Part 3 Experiments & Beyond: Collaborative Printmaking as a Teaching Model by Michael Kempson, Experiments & Beyond：The Experiment Teaching of Printmaking Department in Sichuan Fine Arts Institute by Li Chuan, Transgenic Prints: About the Non-Speci-ality of Contemporary Printmaking by Alicia Candiani, Experiments & Beyond by Faisel Abdu ’Allah.

Text by Yu Ya, translated by Chen Peihua and edited by Sue/CAFA ART INFO

Photo by Yu Ya, Department of Printmaking/CAFA