The contemporary development of graphic arts is an important issue throughout the development of contemporary art, on the basis of discussions with professional colleagues from printmaking departments of major art schools in China, the China Central Academy of Fine Arts (abbr. CAFA) initiated the establishment of “International Academic Printmaking Alliance” and organized the first invitational exhibition, which is a significant event contributed to the contemporary development of graphic arts and international exchanges of printmaking teaching. This exhibition brings together academic printmaking achievements from more than twenty countries around the world, and it especially invites a large number of international printmakers who do not only devote themselves to education at art colleges, but they have also long been engaged in printmaking to gather in Beijing, which is advantageous for those who are engaged in Chinese printmaking education to absorb more international experience, meanwhile it showcases new explorations and achievements in Chinese printmaking creation, introducing new ideas and methods of Chinese printmaking education. It is of special significance that this printmaking exhibition is held at the Art Gallery of the Imperial Ancestral Temple with brilliant Chinese classical architecture.

Graphic arts has a portraying language with its long history, whether in Europe or in China, it has an abundant tradition of printmaking art, printmaking art in the Oriental and the West have different characteristics in all aspects of concepts, techniques, forms and etc. As a great power of culture contrived woodblock printing, China has traditional prints which can be esteemed as magnificent. From the absorption of Western superiority in printmaking since the 20th century to today’s global communication, contemporary printmaking industry in China has been endowed with vitality in simultaneously multiple factors and various forms. Moreover, CAFA has accumulated rich teaching experience in printmaking, and it has become an important platform for printmaking departments from domestic and international art schools to communicate with each other. It is precisely for printmaking has a long history of development, the contemporary development of printmaking is particularly worthy of concern from a cultural perspective, the themes prints convey, connotations of the works, as well as the expansion of formal languages, all of which are important issues printmaking continues to reflect its vitality in contemporary society.

I believe that through the conference of this alliance and the first invitation exhibition, we could broaden our vision to experience the developing trends of printmaking from all over the world. Prints come from the history, which always reflects the characteristics of science and technology as well as cultural developments in different eras. Printmaking language has great compatibility, which means its frontier is expanding. On the occasion of the arrival of the global information age, in the face of new scenarios of new developments in global science and technology, we should further explore the relationship between printmaking and science, technology and image information so that in the support of new technology, new media and new methods, printmaking art can expand its artistic expression, and set up its onic form with the new subjectivity. Through the establishment of “International Academic Printmaking Alliance”, it has formed an internationally academic communicating platform for printmaking, including the establishment of its homepage so that communications of information among Chinese and foreign printmaking can be conducted in time, as online classrooms for discussions on printmaking education have been formed, I think this is also an important initiative, as it will promote the timely communications between printmaking teaching in Chinese higher art education with international counterparts on one hand, and through this channel, information of printmaking creations can be widely disseminated to the social public on the other hand, so as to jointly promote the contemporary development of printmaking and international contemporary exchanges.

Fan Di’an, President of the Central Academy of Fine Arts
September 2016