With writer and revolutionary thinker LU Xun’s introduction of the ”creative” print concept and the New Woodcut Movement in the early 20th century, woodcut printmaking transformed from a purely aesthetic form to an instrument of social and political intervention. This kind of social awareness and action took root not only in China, but also disseminated to other parts of Asia. Woodcut printmaking has since, through changes in creative techniques and democratizing technologies, continued to develop as a social tool and politico-aesthetic phenomenon. In this workshop, participants will learn from this DIY approach developed by a self-organized inter-Asian woodcut printmaking collective called the Woodcut Wavement group.
Their workshop invites participants to visit and contemplate the exhibition École du soir, distilling keywords that personally resonate with them, and express their inspiration through woodcut printmaking. Collective artistic study and exchange of knowledge are sought through discussion and the creation of individual and collaborative works.
Prior to the workshop, participants are encouraged to visit the exhibition on their own or, for those interested in collective study, they may join a session of École du Soir’s scriptorium scheduled earlier on the same day as the workshop (13-15:00). Convened by exhibition artist Christian Nyampeta, the scriptorium is a working group for the writing and interpretation of texts, as well as films and music, related to modern and contemporary African thought and life practices. In Shanghai, the scriptorium experiments with "embodied translation" as an everyday experience that resonates with the lived realities of diverse communities and seeks to foster new forms for "how to live together" through movement, performance, storytelling, and other creative expressions.
In Chinese and English.
Free and open to the public.
Space is limited. Registration is required. To register, please click on the “Register” button on the left of this page or scan the QR code below. Please register by 17:00 on 9 April. Confirmed registrations will be notified at least two days prior to the event.
To register for the scriptorium session (13-15:00) on the same day, please visit the event page and register separately.
In conjunction with École du soir, an exhibition by Christian Nyampeta.
The exhibition École du soir and related events are presented as the fourth season of the ICA’s second artistic research program, Another Knowledge Is Possible (2021-24), exploring neglected and repressed ways of knowing and the complex politics of knowledge decolonization.
