Impact 4

Biggest Bi-Annual Printmaking Wingding
The IMPACT International Printmaking Conference serves as an international forum for print artists, curators, critics, collectors and suppliers of art printing materials and presses. The conference program is conducted in English, and includes lectures, panels, technical demonstrations, exhibition, and portfolio showings. The conference is held every second-year in August or September. IMPACT 4 took place September 5-10, 2005 in Berlin, Germany and Poznan, Poland.

IMPACT 4 addressed the theme of “Kontakt.” The word is the same in both Polish and German, and stresses the collaborative and populist nature of the multiple. “Kontakt” also implies the bridging of cultures and nations. We think of the term in the context of the connections between history and the present, connections between artists and systems of patronage, connections between curatorial practice and the artist. “Kontakt” also poses issues of globalism, trans-nationalism and regionalism in the context of and the expanding European Union. Holding the conference in two cities in two different European nations served to provide a fascinatingly-broad perspective on printmaking and book arts.

Variety, Unity and Other Good Stuff
The conference was attended by more than 300 delegates from 28 countries. Through the two conference sites, delegates had an opportunity to compare the arts of Poznañ and Berlin. The international differences of the conference venues, as well as the broad international background of the delegates allowed us to examine some of the essential characteristics that printmakers from different cultures have in common.

Universität der Künste Berlin, site of sessions, exhibitions and technical demonstations on September 6, 2005.

We also considered how the print traditions of Poznañ and Berlin reflect broader cultural patterns in the European Union. One of the principal goals of the conference is to foster stronger personal and institutional contacts between artists from different countries. The conference will result in future exchange exhibitions, collaboarations and portfolio projects of international scope for many of the delegates.

Speakers, Sessions, and Big Woodcut Banner
Keynote speakers were Ruth Weisberg (Los Angeles, USA) on "Syntax of the Print: Revisited", Thomas Kilpper (Berlin, Germany) on “Cutting, Inking and Printing: Historical Impressions”, and Richard Noyce (Powys, Wales) “Beyond Printmaking: Printmaking from the Outside.” Sessions addressed a variety of issues, from the international scope of many print workshops to the history and future of international print competitions. Panel sessions also addressed "Printmaking and an Enlightenment Aesthetic", "Kontakt with the Book", “Student Kontakt” (educational panel), "Posters & Prints" and “Body Kontakt”, a session addressing the body as subject in historical and contemporary printmaking.

Ambitious German Artist Converts Military Detritus into Giant Woodcut Celebration Including an Homage to Bob Dylan, Yet
In conjunction with the conference The Institut fur Auslands-Beziehungen supported the installation of Thomas Kilpper's banner "Don't Look Back" on the exterior of the Academy of Fine Arts in Poznan. The banner was made from a woodblock Kilpper carved into a wooden basketball court at Camp King, in the vicinity of Frankfurt/Main, which was used for military purposes during and after WWII.

Conference participants exchanged numerous portfolios, including a portfolio tribute to Käthe Kollwitz organized by Beth Grabowski of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. This portfolio was exhibited at the Käthe Kollwitz Museum in Berlin in relation with a retrospective exhibition marking the 60th anniversary of Kollwitz’s death. Special thanks do to Dr. Gudrun Frisch of the Käthe Kollwitz Museum for her support of this project.

Nested Discussions, Plans for Future
The conference included a mid-cycle discussion of the conference on Thursday September 8th and a final plenary session on Friday afternoon September 9th that served to provide a culminating discussion of issues that came up during the conference. A record of comments made during these sessions is posted at: http://web.utk.edu/~imprint/discussion.html

Heartfelt Thanks to the Sponsors
Plans for the IMPACT 4 conference started during a Fulbright Lectureship that Beauvais Lyons (University of Tennessee, USA) held in the Fall of 2002 at the Academy of Fine Arts in Poznan. A small grant from the Goethe Institut in Krakow and funding from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville made it possible to hold planning meetings in Berlin and Poznan in the summer of 2003.

A $10,000 grant from the Trust for Mutual Understanding helped to fund several planning trips and participation by four American delegates to the conference. Host institutions include the Muzeum Narodowe w Poznaniu; the Academy of Fine Arts, Poznan, the Universität der Künste Berlin; and the Druckwerkstatt, Kulturwerk of bbk Berlins. The Centre for Fine Print Research at the University of West England, Bristol supported the mailing of conference postcards. Direct grant support has come from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville; the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; the United States Mission to Germany; the United States Mission to Poland; the Institut für Austlandsbeziehungen e.V.; and the Pienkow International Art Workshops. The conference is also self-funded with over half of the budget coming from registration fees paid by the delegates. The conference will result in a set of full-text published proceedings.

Still Haven't Had Enough?
You can see oodles more pictures of this fascinating event at these sites:

CONFERENCE WEBSITE:
http://web.utk.edu/~imprint/default.html

IMPACT PHOTO GALLERY FROM THE CONFERENCE WEB SITE:
http://web.utk.edu/~imprint/photos.html

IMPACT PHOTOS FROM THE ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS, POZNAN WEB SITE:
http://grafika.asp.poznan.pl/impact/

IMPACT PHOTOS FROM THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF POZNAN WEB SITE:
http://www.mnp.art.pl/impactphoto/index.html

IMPACT PHOTOS FROM APRIL VOLLMER'S WEB SITE:
http://www.aprilvollmer.com/berlin05/

Plus: http://www.aprilvollmer.com/berlin05plus