The trip to Europe in September undertaken by the students of the Printmaking Department of Geidai brought them to some of the major art events of the year. 2017 was offering the rare opportunity to see the documenta in Kassel and the biennale in Venice as well as the graphic art biennial in Ljubljana. In addition to them, the sculpture project in Münster (GER) that is held every ten years also happened at the same time. Even though the visit to Münster was not part of the official trip, some students took the opportunity to go there on their own.

The group first visited the documenta in Kassel. Arriving in the last week of this 100 day event allowed us to study the reactions to this show by critiques and artists and discuss the curatorial concept before arriving. We also were able to arrange for the participation in an event that was held within the educational project of the documenta: Knowledge gathering – Gathering knowledge, a Cooperation at Documenta 14 between School of Arts and Design Kassel, Bern University of the Arts, and Aalto University Helsinki.

Even though we arrived late due to the delay of the plane that brought the students to Germany, we were able to start the discussion about the nature and purpose of events like this. The next three days, students went to see the different venues of the exhibition in small groups in order to be fast enough to see as much as possible in the limited time of three days.

We left Kassel in the evening of September 17, the last day of the documenta and took over night transportation to Ljubljana. Arriving on Monday, we met with Prof. Črtomir Frelih, Professor of Printmaking at the University of Ljubljana and visited with him the printmaking studio. The next day was dedicated to the 32nd Biennial of Graphic Arts in Ljubljana: Birth as Criterion – Biennial of Graphic Arts Ljubljana at International Centre of Graphic Arts. We had a guided tour through the show and later met with the main curator Breda Skrjanec. Together we could visit the print studios and the places that the international center is preparing for an extensive artist in residence program. We finished the visit at the center with an introduction to the collection of the center (in the meanwhile also a museum of contemporary print) and a discussion of the growing importance of book art.

The next three days were spent in Venice where we visited the main show of the biennale „Viva Arte Viva”, all the pavilion in the Gardini as well as many other venues that are all over the city. Spreading out again in small groups allowed for an almost individual viewing experience and the opportunity to see as much as possible within the limited time.

The biennial in Venice,being a major event of contemporary art attracts independently produced and curated shows that utilize the incredible number of visitors. This allowed the students to see much discussed shows of Damian Hearst and David Hockney and to explore new concepts of exhibitions like the show “The boat is leaking, the captain lied” by Alexander Kluge, Thomas Demand, Anna Viebrock and Udo Kittelmann.

After an intensive time in Venice, we moved on to Austria where the students were invited to show their own work in the Gallery and Studio Space “Karrnerwaldele” of Gerald Nitsche in Landeck. Being able to present own work after the extensive intake of art was an important part of the experience as the need to explain and rethink the own production within the new context is offering the chance for a deeper understanding of the own artistic impetus.

The day after the opening was spent at a mountain top of 2020 meters, where we enjoyed the physical change of perspective in analogy to the intellectual change of perspective that has dominated the days before. Up the mountains, we met also to discuss the experience of the different major shows, the different conceptual background and curatorial strategies as well as the visible trends in the artistic representation and the current visual culture.

Having seen these major events of contemporary art and the biennial of graphic art firsthand helped the students to sharpen their understanding of the relation of print media and printmaking to the development of contemporary art. Students participating in “Europe Contemporary” are now enabled to understand their work as part of the international discourse on art.

On the way back to Japan, we had scheduled a visit to the Academy of Fine Art in Munich (GER). Prof. Gesa Puell, head of the Lithography studio was our host, introducing the whole group to the printmaking facilities, the ongoing projects and the structure of the studio work there. The opportunity to meet an expert of Lithography in the very country where the technique was invented and to be able to work on future ties with our colleagues there was the final step in an attempt to connect to the recent developments in art via the shared experience of the studio practice in printmaking.