Welcome to the Fourth International Mokuhanga Conference Nara – December 1 to 3, 2021, both in Nara and as a virtual conference

We are pleased to announce the 4th International Mokuhanga Conference, now renamed IMC2021 NARA, which will take place from December 1 to 3, 2021, in Nara, Japan, at  the Nara Kasugano International Forum IRAKA and as a virtual conference.

Still renowned today as a center of production for the finest sumi ink, Nara is an ideal site for IMC2021. This fourth convening of the conference, titled Sumi-Fusion, will celebrate the versatility of sumi in woodblock printing, both historically and in contemporary applications across Japan and abroad. Additionally, it will explore the presence of black, and how it relates to color.

Lying at the easternmost end of the Silk Road, Nara was a meeting point where artisans, monks, merchants and literati from China, Korea and India mingled with the citizens of the ancient capital. And it was here, with the refinement of available materials for its production, that woodblock printmaking became an important medium of communication.

IMC2021 will combine a look at Nara’s role in the development of mokuhanga while spotlighting its contemporary fusions: its relevance today, its globalizing future, and its ever-growing interest among new generations of art students, crafts-people, artists and academics.

IMC2021 has been designed around exhibitions, discussions, demonstrations and academic presentations that reflect the diversity of interests and approaches to mokuhanga within the wider disciplinary world of print-media and contemporary art.

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Thank you to our Supporters and Sponsors:

• MI-LAB, Japan
• Washi Arts, USA
• Ozu Shoten Co., Ltd., Japan
• Awagami Factory, Japan
• Constellation Studios, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA
• Michihamono Industrial Co., Ltd., Japan
• Boku-Undo Co., Ltd., Japan
• Osaka 21st Century Association, Japan
• Yoshino Gypsum Art Foundation, Japan
• Association for Corporate Support of the Arts (Kigyo Mécénat Kyogikai KMK), Japan
• Southern Vermont Arts Center, Manchester, VT, USA
• McClains Printmaking Supplies, USA
• Block Paper Print LLC, Michigan, USA
• Hiromi Paper, USA
• Hidakawashi Co., Ltd., Japan
• Kobaien Ink Stick, Nara, Japan
• Udatsu Crafts Center (Echizen), Japan
• Holbein Art Materials, Inc., Japan
• Paper Connection International, RI, USA

If you are interested in sponsoring or supporting the fourth International Mokuhanga Conference please contact us.