Face-to-Face with World Woodprints

The 7th KIWA Exhibition was held from March 22 to 27, 2016, in the Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art. The building is a very old Meiji Period (1868 to 1912) building that has been completely modernized inside to a state-of-the-art museum while keeping the 19th century on the outside. KIWA has held four exhibitions in this building, three on the large second floor, this 7th on the smaller first.

Altogether we received 320 prints by 128 artists (57 males, 71 females) from 35 countries. Photos of the installation are on this homepage and Facebook, as well as the opening party, photos taken during the show, and the dismantling. I was on hand every day from 9am to 5pm, to greet visitors. Many old friends came, both KIWA members and others. Of course, new faces were the vast majority. In total, a little over 1,200 people came to see the prints. This is a record for us.

The most frequent comment we heard, and also was written on the Questionnaire, was that it was one of the most beautiful exhibitions ever seen. The arrangement of the works on the walls and panels allowed for a display of about 320 pieces, but without any sense of crowding. There was sufficient space between every print to give the viewers time to refresh their eyes for the next work. This is so important; KIWA has always felt this way and installed our exhibitions thusly.

I want to thank the sponsors, the Prize Givers, the advertisers in the catalog, and the KIWA staff for the support they all generously gave. Last, but hardly least, is KIWA’s thanks to the print artists from around the globe who submitted their precious art to the 7th KIWA Exhibition.

From Kyoto, the show will go to the Takanabe Museum in Miyazaki Prefecture, Kyushu, as it always does. Immediately following that, the Prize Winners’ prints will go to the Tokyo Municipal Museum. Negotiations are being held now to also show the prints in Europe. More on this later; please follow our homepage and Facebook sites.

Thank you all.

 

President of KIWA,
Richard Steiner