Vie De Pacifique International Print Exhibition

Expression of Interest: Pacific Rim Print Exchange

Vie de Pacifique/Pacific Life

An International Print Exchange to coincide with the Asia Pacific Triennial in late 2012

An exciting print exchange of original contemporary prints is currently being organised by Impress president Jenny Sanzaro-Nishimura with a number of print studios on or bordering the Pacific Ocean. Each print studio will select up to five artists, each to make an edition (or series) of 12 (or more) prints (paper size A4), 10 that will be distributed to the other participating 10 countries, the remaining prints for sale. Each country would be responsible for finding a venue to exhibit and financing in their respective countries. In Queensland, Impress will host the Vie de Pacifique/Pacific Life exhibition at our new studio in October/ November 2012 whilst the other countries involved would stage their exhibitions pending the availability of their venues.

A theme has been decided which will enable a cultural identity to emerge from the artworks. Artists will explore their relationship with the pacific as a source of life and beauty, an element, a source of food and a means of travel and recreation. They could also take into consideration the dumping ground for human and industrial discardments it has become. They could take into consideration the soothing, peacefulness and beauty, concealing the untameable, unpredictable and dangerous aspects of it and what it contains. The Artists are encouraged to reflect on the Pacific in their own way:

·         aesthetically and pictorially

·         subjectively and emotionally

·         politically with ecological concerns

·         philosophically or practically

·         culturally

·         any other perspective

Some of the countries involved are geographically remote; our climates vary from tropical, to temperate and sub-arctic/antarctic. Each country has greatly differing flora, fauna and marine life and coastlines and cultural lore related to the Pacific; each country uses the ocean as a means of transport, food supply/sustenance or other purpose. Queensland has a strong recreational link to the Pacific beaches, our penchant for ocean view or canal front homes and our lifestyle. What does the Pacific mean to you?

Countries who have expressed interest so far are- Australia, Chile, Japan, The Philippines and Vanuatu, New Zealand. We have also sent enquiries to Canada, San Francisco, and Hawaii. The exhibition will present contemporary printmaking practices as they have developed in each participating country.  All printmaking techniques will be accepted, traditional and digital, editions and monoprints but they must be on archival paper.

Artists interested in participating in this international print exchange will be required to lodge an expression of interest by June 30^th 2011. An entry fee will be charged to cover international freight and exhibition fees. Each studio will get to keep their set of prints to exhibit around their country, add to their collection or sell to an interested museum. Five Impress members will be selected to exhibit their works, and a maximum of five printmakers from each country. Details for lodging your expression of interest will be sent out to the exchange co-ordinators of each country and Impress members via email, listed on our website and advertised through Print Universe and other online arts organisations.

Expressions of Interest close on June 30^th 2011, please mark this date in your diaries. I am looking forward to hearing from you and your print making community.

Kind regards,

Jenny Sanzaro-Nishimura

President Impress Printmakers Studio

“Royalties of  Flight”

Vie de Pacifique is  an exchange of creative outputs between different  cultures.  Each locality   share  a certain narrative  using images  familiar to their immediate environment.

Flight denotes travel,  motion, or may connote a  transit of ideas .

I have decided to use  two  iconic images in the Philippine setting to express the process of exchange of  creative works from one local to the other and in one way or the other,  present images  that reflect the distinctive mirage of Manila, the Philippine capital .

I have used the word “Royalties” as a metaphor for the popularity of the two iconic images that I have used for my print. These images present the polarities of male and female, nature and technology , urban and rural and yet form a balance between contrasting two energies, just like the yin and yang.

Manila is both urban and rural in its setting.  Among the hustle and bustle of the metro,  the environment is still filled with diversities that  reflect  the roots of the people.

The maya, is a native bird from the Philippines. Similar to the robin,  this  common yet pleasant  bird  can be seen   all around the Philippines.    The people do not touch them nor hurt them. They seem to liven up even the most mundane setting. These   They  are considered the little queens wherever they are found. A  sort of royalty in their own right.  “Reyna” is translated as Queen in Filipino.

 The jeepney is the means of  public transportation in Manila. Its owners usually garnish them with accessories.  Personal  names  are even given to this  mode of transportation in order to give it a sense of  uniqueness or personality.  Just like a person with a distinct character, no jeepney is designed alike.  Citizens call it “The King of the Road”  since they dominate mostly all the avenues of the metro.  “Hari” is translated as King in the Filipino language.

“Royalties of Flight” also connote the transit of these images   from its locality-  the Philippines to other areas -  Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Hawaii, Japan, France,  among other places.  They  are  relics that in one way or the other  represent a small glimpse of how textured yet balanced  the Philippines   as  a locality.