Echizen Washi & Contemporary Mokuhanga exhibition

Exhibition opening and artist talks, photo by Asuka Tsutsumi

The exhibition "Echizen Washi & Contemporary Mokuhanga" is held at Takefu Auditorium Memorial (Echizen, Fukui), 11 July - 16 August 2026

This exhibition consists of three parts: a showcase of new works printed on Echizen washi paper by 16 Japanese artists, a celebration of the 30th anniversary of the water-based woodblock print residency, and a Japan-India printmaking exchange project. I am delighted that my print ‘No silver lining’ is included in the 30th anniversary of AIR program run by Mokuhanga International Laboratory (MiLab), currently based in Echizen, Japan.

Photos by Asuka Tsutsumi, @asukatsutsumi and second down by Sylvia Waltering @sylviawaltering

Greetings from the Chair, MI-LAB Collection Exhibition

The International Mokuhanga Innovation Laboratory (MI-LAB), run by the Center for the Science of Human Endeavor (CfSHE) was established in 2011 with the aim of promoting internationally, the water-based woodblock printing system developed in Japan. This technique is rooted in Japanese history and culture, and has great potential for application in contemporary art. Through this activity, we also hope to contribute to the revitalization of industries such as Japanese paper and woodcut tools.

This activity began in I992 with a survey of art centers in the United states, and continued as the Water-based Multicolor Woodblock Printing Joint Production Workshop" held every year on Awaji Island, Hyogo Prefecture beginning in 1994. In response to requests from overseas, the artist-in-residence (AIR) project "Nagasawa Art Park (NAP)" started in 1997. Many people from foreign universities participated in NAP, and requested an international conference focusing on woodblock printmaking. The First International Mokuhanga Conference (IMC) was held in Kyoto and Awaji 2011. Tne second IMC was held in Tokyo in 214, the Third in Hawaii in 2017; and the Fourth in Nara in 2021. Now the Filth IMC was held in Echizen City, Fukui Perfecture in 2024.

After the Nagasawa Art Park project ended in 2010. we opened MI-LAB in Fujikawaguchiko Town, Yamanashi Prefecture in 2011. After the IMC in Hawaii in 2017, we established the Japan Committee of the International Mokuhanga Association, a non-profit organization in August 2018 in response to requests from overseas members.

In our AIR program aiming to spread water-based woodblock printing internationally, the challenge was to create a system for artists to continue to learn about washi, japanese paper. In the course of our activities to support the revitalization of the relevant industry, we have formed a partnership with the Fukui Washi Association and held an exhibition jointly with the Udatsu Crafts Museum in the Echizen Washi Village. By relocating the MI-LAB AIR studio to Echizen City last year, we hope to provide participating artists with an ongoing opportunity to experience paper making.

Since 1997, more than 300 artists from forty-nine countries have partıcıpated ın this AIR program. In appreciation of this achievement, Echizen City, the Fukui Washi Association, and the Udatsu Crafts Museum decided to support our new development. We would like to express our deep gratitude to them.

We are pleased to exhibit the water-based woodblock prints made by artists during their participation in MI-LAB AIR in this wonderful Gallery Shikura. We hope you will enjoy them.

Yasuyuki Sato

Chair

Center for the Science of Human Endeavor