The Xiaoxiang Exhibition of International Printmaking 2015:潇湘国际版画名家遨请展作品集

The Xiaoxiang Exhibition of International Printmaking, the accompanying catalogue, together with The Xiaoxiang Portfolio: Language of the Future, was described in China, as being the most ambitious project of its kind to have ever been staged outside of Beijing. The exhibition at The Mei Lun Gallery (Hunan Fine Art Publishing House) in Changsha (16 November - 6 December 2015) included a total of 90 artists: 30 selected by Croft from the UK, Ireland, USA, Canada, Australia and Chile, a further 20 international artists (selected by Changsha) and 40 Chinese artists from the top Chinese Academies – showing over 200 prints. Simultaneously there was a second exhibition of printmaking by a further 60 artists from the Hunan Printmakers Association staged in the adjoining galleries. Some of the prints made for the Xiaoxiang Portfolio were also framed and exhibited during the main exhibition. The exhibition was a joint venture, co-curated by Paul Croft (Aberystwyth University), Kang Jianfei (Secretary of the Printmaking Association of China Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing) and Professor Luo Xiangke (Changsha Normal University) The project was sponsored by The Printmaking Committee of The China Artists Association, The Hunan Fine Arts Publishing House, The Hunan Artists Association and Changsha Normal University. Further financial assistance was received from the Hunan Department of Education via The Famous Foreign Professors Project. The premise for the exhibition, catalogue and portfolio was to provide a synopsis of contemporary printmaking practice in China within an international context. As co-curator, Croft invited 30 artists from UK, Ireland, USA, Canada, Australia and Chile to participate in the show and to be also involved in the accompanying Xiaoxiang Portfolio. Funding from the Hunan Department of Education (the equivalent of £20,000 from The Famous Foreign Professors Project) enabled 6 artists from UK and USA (Paul Croft, Wuon Gean Ho, Serena Smith, Michael Barnes, Dionne Haroutunian and Luz marina Ruiz) to undertake residencies coinciding with the period of the exhibition, to deliver workshops and lectures at 3 universities in Changsha. The second part of The Xiaoxiang project was The Xiaoxiang International Portfolio: Language of The Future. This portfolio, which was not completed and collated until late 2017, forms two box sets of prints - each including the work of 25 artists from China, UK, Ireland, Canada, Chile and Australia. Each artist invited for the portfolio was required to produce an edition of 35 prints that in some way addressed the title: Language of The Future. Each artist subsequently received one of the two box sets containing 25 prints- whilst the 10 additional sets containing the full collection of 50 impressions are to be donated to collections in China, UK and USA. The criteria for selecting artists and prints for the exhibition and the portfolio focussed upon images that use innovative approaches to printmaking including all print media (analogue and digital) and any combination of these as hybrid prints. A substantial catalogue: Collection of Works of Xiaoxiang Exhibition of International Printmaking was published by The Hunan Fine Arts Publishing House (200pages 305mm x 235mm Hardback) ISBN 978 7 5356 7459 3. Croft also wrote the introductory essay ‘The Community of Printmaking’ (P8-9) for the catalogue. The exhibition and portfolio has led to subsequent collaboration between Aberystwyth and Changsha and in part was responsible for the signing of an MOU between AU and CNU in 2016.