Moka Hanga in Florence-LAILAC 14,15,16 NOV

This year, I won't just be attending. I will be demonstrating the craft of Japanese woodblock printing (moku hanga) at this year's Festival of Japanese Arts and Culture hosted by Lailac.

XVI Japanese Festival 2014

Lailac-the local Japanese Cultural Association is presenting their XVIth Festival Giapponese in Florence
November 14,15,16 just two weeks away.

Set in the lovely Limonaia di Villa Strozzi, a magnificent stone greenhouse originally built to house the Villa's lemon trees in the winter; this November it will host a kaleidoscope of Japanese culture. Inside the Limonaia there is a stage and there will be music, demonstrations of kimono, the Japanese tea ceremony, aikido, Taiko, and much more. Meanwhile surrounding the stage are areas dedicated to Etagami, Origami, Calligraphy, and yes, Moku Hanga.  Outside there is a tented area with more crafts, painted silk,  food vendors and offering hard-to-find Japanese cooking tools and ingredients.

It's a lovely event, well-attended and it's where I joined the Japanese Etagami Society's etagami exchange last year. They will again be sending 8-10 members from Japan who will be hosting a set of tables to teach and permit visitors how to make etagami (and enrolling interested participants in the exchange).

 I will be manning the Moku Hanga Table inside and will have a display of tools, blocks, prints, and descriptions of the process.
In addition to demonstrating the carving and printing, I will have carved blocks, sample tools--barens and brushes, I will be bringing some original antique and vintage Japanese woodblock prints in addition to a handful of my own works to display.

I will be carving in the mornings and then try to run several printing demonstrations in the afternoon until closing--as the attraction of moku hanga for non-artists is the printing phase---the magic moment of pulling the paper off the block and seeing the impressed image.
I am hoping?? to start and finish a small, new print during the fair but we'll see how much work I can actually do as I expect I'll be spending a lot of time explaining.

So if you're in Florence, Nov 14, 15, 16th or close enough to come visit, I'll be in the Limonaia at Palazzo Strozzi 11a-8pm. Come say hi!

For information, directions to Villa Strozzi see the Lailac website:
www.lailac.it/xvi-festival-giapponese-2014/
XVI Japanese Festival 2014