![]() ![]() ![]() Although woodblock printmaking itself is 'alive and well', with amateur groups flourishing in any sizeable community, the publishing of woodblock prints has fallen on hard times, and for most people in this society, the idea of purchasing a woodblock print would simply never enter their mind.Īt first glance, there is nothing unusual or 'bad' about this printmaking had a very good run in this country over a period of hundreds of years, but all things come to an end, all societies change, and there is no reason to expect that any tradition can (or should) continue indefinitely. Traditional woodblock printmaking hasn't been doing too well here in Japan recently. (I should warn you though, this is a kind of 'hobby horse' for me and once I climb onto it, I might go on a bit. I will select the prints, I will hire the craftsmen, I will organize the sales/distribution and the events, and most importantly - I will set the standards by which this organization will operate, and that. Over on my website, I display and distribute the woodblock prints that come off my own carving and printing benches the prints you will see here on Mokuhankan have a different origin - other craftsmen will be involved in the carving and printing (although I too, will be joining the production crew on occasion). Mokuhankan is a woodblock print publishing venture established by myself - Tokyo printmaker David Bull. So coming after mokuhan, it will imply that this is the place where we will find woodblocks!Ĭoming up with an English phrase that captures the same nuance isn't easy, so let's leave it at that - welcome to Mokuhankan! After bijutsu (arts), it signifies a museum or gallery ( bijutsukan). Appearing after tosho (books) it tells us that this is a library ( toshokan). Here though, the two characters are combined with kan, which our dictionaries tell us carries the meanings of 'mansion' or 'hall', and which in practice is a character appearing at the end of a compound word indicating the place associated with the object/action. These two, if combined with the character for 'picture' ga, form the word moku hanga which thus literally means 'wooden plate picture', a perfect description of the object. The second is ita, with a basic meaning of 'board' (or 'plate' as in 'printing plate'), also pronounced han. The first is ki, the character for 'tree' - pronounced also moku. Here you have the three kanji characters making up the word mokuhankan. ![]()
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