A select panel discussed the role of international collaboration, especially from the participants' perspectives as paper artists. This was followed by a special presentation of awards to Robert Rauschenberg and Shoichi Ida for Excellence in International Cultural Exchange. At the culmination of the events were the viewing of the installation -- including a site-specific sculpture recently created by Winifred Lutz for the exhibit -- and a warm reception attended by many who have been involved with the exhibit during the four years it has travelled the United States and Asia. Featuring the work of twenty American artists, New American Paperworks travelled to two cities each in Japan and Korea, to Hong Kong, the Phillipines, and Singapore, and to nine cities in the United States. Organized and curated by Jane Farmer for the World Print Council, it was ground-breaking both aesthetically and organizationally. The impressiveness of the number of locations where the works were shown was shadowed not only by the art itself but also by the manner in which each new location of the show found one or more of the contributing artists partly responsible for the actual installation. Each successive environment was seen by the artists in the context of earlier placements as a cumulative experience which influenced and contributed to the overall impact of New American Paperworks each time it was shown.
Farmer, the moving force amidst the exhibit from its inception, built the idea of the artists contributing to the installations into the overall concept of the exhibit, including appropriate funding and ackowledgement to allow such participation. Her insightful and tireless contributions were noted in a surprise award given to her by the featured artists assembled at the celebratory event.
The panel discussion, moderated by Ruth Fine of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., featured Chuck Hilger, Ida, Rauschenberg, Don Saff, and Helen Frederick, three of whom (Hilger, Rauschenberg, and Frederick) were contributors to the exhibit. Following a succinct slide introduction to the work of each of the panelists by Fine, discussion was geared toward a focus on cross-cultural exchange in paper art. Hilger and Ida spoke of the profound effect of the International Paper Conference (held in Kyoto in 1983) on paper art in Japan. The conference, drawing nine hundred participants from around the world, coincided with the Kyoto installation of New American Paperworks. Prior to that time, according to Ida, handmade paper had served such a commonplace and accepted role in Japanese life that it was not generally acknowledged as a substance for art. Frederick mentioned that there exists no indigenous training ground for papermaking in the United States as hand papermaking is not a part of American culture. Because of this the paper artist is drawn into intercultural exchange, through both work abroad and the use of international materials. While Farmer termed paper an "ambassador", in a session of open comments, Bilge Friedlaender, another contributor to the show, closed the discussion by suggesting that paper had come to serve as a vehicle for international ritual.
The exhibit displayed a surprising freshness, considering the time and distance it had travelled since its first installation. The earliest works, from the mid seventies, were from Rauschenberg's Pages and Fuses series, made in Ambert, France, and his Bones and Unions series, made in collaboration in India. The bulk of the exhibit featured art, both two and three dimensional, made in the early eighties. A broad field of materials and treatments was found in the sculptural work, which included: the plaited, laminated, dyed, and painted paper of Neda Al-Hilali; the abaca, kite line, and tengujo composites of Caroline Greenwald; and Sirpa Yarmolinsky's constructions of Finnish tar paper. The flat work also used a variety of materials, from the Nepalese paper in Steven Sorman's collages to the combinations of Eastern and Western fibers in the pieces by Nancy Genn, Don Farnsworth, and Kenneth Noland. That a major exhibit of works acknowledging the role of paper as more than a support for other media and highlighting recent investigations in the use of paper was able to tour so widely and generate such enthusiasm along the way is both historic and heartening. Although this exhibit is now at its final site, there was a strong sense at the opening that the entire experience which it provided will prove as the beginning of a rich and rewarding period for paper art and artists.
First International Biennial of Paper Art - The First International Biennial of Paper Art was held in the summer of 1986 at the Leopold-Hoesch Museum in Duren, West Germany, curated by Dr. Dorothea Eimert. Over five hundred artists submitted material for consideration, from which the work of one hundred forty-one artists was chosen, representing twenty-two countries from around the globe. The jury consisted of Jules Heller (USA), Julie Lawson (Great Britain), Katharana Natalie Eital (West Germany), Irmgard Gerhards (West Germany), Helga Rathert (West Germany), and Alfred Hoesch (West Germany). Due to both volume and range, the works represented in the biennial cannot be easily categorized. The pieces incorporated pulp created from cotton, linen, gampi, cardboard, animal hair, glitter, grass, thistle, tea leaves, and sisal. This variety of materials was echoed in the backgrounds of the artists represented in the exhibit, who have come to working with paper from a wide range of disciplines, including painting, sculpture, printing, bookmaking, weaving, and curating. Concurrent with the opening of the biennial in May, which featured a performance piece with paper costumes (see photo), the initial meeting was held for the International Association of Hand Paper Makers and Paper Artists (IAPMA). Fred Siegenthaler of Muttenz, Switzerland, who has worked for many years as a paper artist, is largely responsible for founding this group. At the meeting Dr. Eimert was elected president; Ray Tomasso of Englewood, Colorado, vice president; Siegenthaler, treasurer; and John Gerard of Berlin, secretary. In addition to providing resources and contacts to paper artists and papermakers, the association will publish a bulletin providing information on a variety of subjects in the field. The group plans to sponsor congresses and exhibitions and to start a library of worldwide literature on hand papermaking and paper art. We congratulate Dr. Eimert and Fred Siegenthaler both, for the staging of the exihibition with its promise for future shows and for the inauguration of a new group specifically for papermakers and paper artists. These events acknowledge valuable activity within the international paper community and signal evidence of a continuing discussion about hand papermaking and paper art. Copies of the catalog from the biennial are still available; contact: Dr. Dorothea Eimert, Leopold-Hoesch Museum, Postfach 486, D-5160 Duren, West Germany. For more information on the IAPMA, contact: Fred Siegenthaler, Stockertstrasse 2, CH-4132 Muttenz, Switzerland.
Students of the University G. H. Paderborn under the guidance of Prof. Reese-Heim created costumes out of paper for the performance at the opening of the 1st International Biennial of Paper Art.
Michael Petry of El Paso, Texas Spells Three Weeks of the Truth 21 Letters = 21 Days = 3 Weeks 21 Newspapers = 21 Days = 3 Weeks Recycled Newspaper Pulp
Martin Weimar (West Germany). Book, bound in felt, with watermarked sheets of handmade paper. Watermarks create a lineation. In these lines are different kinds of graphs which lead to the image of typeface.
Photos by Caroline Greenwald
Douglass Howell Retrospective - It was mentioned in the last issue of HAND PAPERMAKING that there would be a retrospective exhibit of the work of Douglass Morse Howell at the New York Public Library in the fall of 1986. The exhibit, curated by Bernard McTigue, was postponed and is now scheduled for February 1987. Maryland Institute, College of Art Exhibit - The Maryland Institute, College of Art in Baltimore, Maryland will present an exhibition of non-traditional fiber works by eight artists, including Winifred Lutz. The exhibition will be accompanied by workshops, panel discussions, and slide lectures by participating artists. Dates of the exhibit are: February 4 through March 1, 1987. The opening reception is scheduled for Thursday, February 12. For more information, contact: Arlene Richman, The Maryland Institute, College of Art, Office of Public Relations, 1300 West Mount Royal Ave., Baltimore, Maryland 21217.
Paper Now : Bent, Molded, and Manipulated The Cleveland Museum of Art will present the work of twenty-one artists in an exhibit curated by Jane Glaubinger. Dates of the exhibit are November 4, 1986 through January 4, 1987. Featuring thirty-four works, the exhibit will be accompanied by a major catalog, which can be ordered from the museum bookstore. For more information, contact: Cleveland Museum of Art, 10500 East Blvd., Cleveland, Ohio 44106, or phone (216) 421-7340.
Mexico International Papermaking Exhibition An exhibition presented by the Japanese Embassy in Mexico and the Immigration Enterprise Memorial will be held in Mexico City, Mexico, from the 11th through the 31st of May, 1987.
