Mamta B. Herland's Latest Think Piece

Our cover story this month is another think piece by Mamta Herland, a young Assamese woman, resident between her home in Norway and the Winchester School of Art in the U.K. Mamta is a painter who discovered computer art, was captivated by it, started trudging her digital prints around galleries, became indignant at their rejection of things digital, reconverted her indignation into activism and is today a formidable spokesperson for the digital fraternity. We agree with Mamta that digital art should have an equal right to be hung alongside traditional work in galleries and museums--and in our homes, for that matter--and we admire her pluck.

We're also convinced that time is on her side. Have a look at her article, Internet & the World Wide Web, Consequences for Fine Art, and see if you don't agree. While you're at it, take a hard look at our cover image, a digital print by Mamta entitled "I Am on the Net, Therefore I Am," and ask yourself if such a wonderful collage could have been created without the benefit of a computer.

PRINTFEST in Ulverston (Cumbria) U.K.

World Printmakers co-founder, Maureen Booth, was back in Ulverston last month for the fourth annual edition of PRINTFEST, a contemporary fine-art print fair, homespun and small-town, but getting more professional and more successful every year. Maureen was taken with the affable atmosphere of the town and the fair. "It's the people," she says, "they're like the people of the north of England from the old days. What a pleasant surprise! Founders Judy Evans and Ronkey Bullard, and the whole team who work on the fair certainly have something to be proud of with PRINTFEST!"

"Who's on First?"

The comedy of dancing dates for the 2004 edition of Madrid's annual ESTAMPA print fair has nothing to envy the Three Stooges' memorable Who's on First? farce. A couple of months ago I had breakfast in Madrid with Isabel Pérez, the fair director, and she was distraught because they had lost the date and venue for this year's fair to another event and had to settle for an awkward mid-December date. Then, a couple of weeks ago I speak with her again and she's delighted to have regained the traditional late-November date in the beautiful Crystal Pavillion conference hall on the grounds of the Casa de Campo where they held the ESTAMPA fair last year. So we publish a change-of-date notice on World Printmakers and that's that. Or is it?

A couple of days ago we receive an email from the fair's communications department with an attached news release informing us that ESTAMPA "celebrará su XII Edición entre los días 25 y 29 de diciembre de 2004," that is to say, December! I phone Isabel to suggest there might possibly have been an error. Twenty minutes later I receive both a phone call and a new email apologizing profusely and confirming the November date. So that's that.

This morning I go to the ESTAMPA website to find a fact I need and I am bemused to find this in the "Estampa Notice" section: "...from the 10th to the 14th of december, 2004..." Who's on first?

Welcome Aboard, Dolores!

Before I go I want to welcome Dolores Kaufman to World Printmakers. Those are her digital images at the right of this text (unless you're reading the text-only version, in which case you have to click here to see the images). Welcome aboard, Dolores. We love your images and wish you a lot of success with them.

An Interesting Tidbit

Just ran across this commentary in artdaily.com about a major print exhibit at the Frick Collection: Have a look.

See you next month. In the meantime, count your blessings and ¡Viva el grabado!

Mike & Maureen Booth
Editors & Publishers
World Printmakers
The Worldwide Showcase for
Contemporary Fine-Art Printmakers
URL: http://www.worldprintmakers.com
Email: contact@worldprintmakers.com

P.S. We're talking with the Granada city cultural counsellor about getting a public gallery space here for an exhibit of international digital printmakers this fall. He saw some samples of work and likes the idea very much. We're looking at a September or October date for the show. If you do digital prints and think you might be interested in participating in this World Printmakers real-world computer art initiative, drop me an email at miguel@worldprintmakers.com and we'll discuss the details. We need to have a rough idea of how many artists want to participate, so as to reserve the appropriate space.