Over two days, A Meeting of Cultures: Japan and Australia Print Symposium provides a forum for the presentation and discussion of issues, ideas and research from the printmaking sphere by bringing together scholars, artists, and representatives from cultural institutions through keynote addresses, panel discussions and artist talks.

The Symposium coincides with the Kyoto Hanga International Print Exhibition: Japan and Australia 2019 at Caloundra Regional Gallery and is presented by USC Art Gallery and the Print Council of Australia through the support of Sunshine Coast Council, the Regional Arts Development Fund, the Australia-Japan Foundation, Kyoto Hanga Print Exhibition Executive Committee, Argon Law and the Consulate-General of Japan, Brisbane.

Keynote Speakers
Saturday, September 21
Akira Kurosaki: the evolution of ukiyo-e and woodcut prints
Professor Atsuhiko Musashi, Kyoto Seika University

Akira Kurosaki (1937-2019) is representative of a generation of Japanese artists who started their career and in the 1960s; he was open to international styles and techniques, participated in international exhibitions, and he lived and worked abroad. Despite these international influences, his practice was deeply informed by the traditional Ukiyo-e woodcut artists of his homeland.

In this keynote presentation, Professor Musashi will chart the history of Japanese woodcuts beginning with early 17th century Ukiyo-e through to its end during the middle of the 19th century. He will discuss the last Ukiyo-e painter, Yoshitoshi Tsukioka and also cover Shin Hanga (New Print), Sosaku Hanga (Creative Print) and the importance of the Tokyo International Print Biennial. This will frame his discussion of Akira Kurosaki’s woodcut art from 1965 to 2014.

Sunday, September 22
The poetics of flow: the enfolding of matter, memory and print
Dr Jan Hogan, University of Tasmania

The waters connecting Australia and Japan are a fluid space of cultural flow. The narrative of exchange encompasses matter, cultural sensibilities, geological formations and the geographical flows of trade. There is a nonlinear entanglement where ideas and matter are enfolded, cast adrift, and float to new sensibilities. Across oceans, the formal integrity of works are translated and transformed by new places and ‘points of view’.

In this keynote, Dr Hogan will reflect on the traces of thoughts, languages and materials that echo across time and place leading to new poetics and modes of thinking through the innovations of the Ukiyo-e print.

Please visit the 'External Link' below for more information and to register.