Shin Jidai: Contemporary Japanese Book and Paper Arts
MCBA Star Tribune Foundation Gallery
May 19 – July 15, 2012

Join us for the Harukaze Festival of Japanese Arts — an MCBA open house to welcome Shin Jidai!
Saturday, May 19; 10am-4pm

On May 19, 2012, Minnesota Center for Book Arts (MCBA), in partnership with the Japan America Society of Minnesota (JASM), will host the Harukaze Festival of Japanese Book and Paper Arts. The Harukaze ("spring wind") Festival will welcome hundreds of visitors to a day-long community open house with hands-on participation activities for youth and adults; professional artist demonstrations of traditional Japanese art forms; and three terrific exhibitions of contemporary artwork that reflect the use and evolution of traditional Japanese artistic practices.

Adults and children of all ages can try their hand at suminagashi paper marbling, learn a traditional Japanese "stab binding" technique to create their own mini ledger books, and become a paper engineer with make-and-take origami activities offered in partnership with Origami Minnesota. Each activity will run continuously from 10am to 4pm. Additionally, from 1 to 1:30pm, attendees can have their name brush-painted in East Asian calligraphy by Collette Cumella of the Minnesota Ming Chiao Chapter of the Sumi-e Society of America.

Schedule of artist demonstrations:
10am - 11:30am: artist Sheila McNellis Asato demonstrates Kirigami paper cutting
12pm - 1:30pm: artist Emily Hoisington demonstrates Moku hanga wood-cut printing
1pm, 2pm, 3pm: members of the Ming Chiao Chapter of the Sumi-e Society of America demonstrate Sumi-e brush painting
2pm - 3:30pm: artist Sue Bjerke demonstrates Japanese hand-bookbinding techniques

The Harukaze Festival also marks the opening of three coordinated exhibitions:

Shin Jidai: Contemporary Japanese Book and Paper Arts
May 19 – July 15, 2012; on display in MCBA’s Star Tribune Foundation Gallery
Shin Jidai is a juried exhibition of works from over 50 regional, national and international artists, highlighting such traditional Japanese artistic practices as moku hanga (watercolor woodcut printing), origami, kirigami (paper cutting), hand papermaking, paper and fabric marbling/decorating, unique artist’s books, calligraphy, brush painting and more.
Featured artists include: Sheila McNellis Asato, Annie Bissett, Barbara Bussolari, Carolee Campbell, Susanne Clawson, Béatrice Coron, Joyce Cutler-Shaw, Angela Eastman, Gene Epstein, Andy Farkas, Lisa Giles, Emily Hoisington, Jill Kambs, Preston Lawing, Mary Ellen Long, Su Lund, Kitty Maryatt, Kyoko Matsunaga, Anna Mavromatis, Jan Melville, Hanne Niederhausen, Pamela Olson, PD Packard, Candida Pagan, Jill Parisi, Won Park, Pamela Paulsrud, Sonja Peterson, Yuka Petz, Gina Pisello, Marija Prelog, Johanne Renbeck, Josie Rodriguez, Jane Rosemarin, Ruth Scott, Scripps College Press, Robbin Ami Silverberg, Motoko Tachikawa, Terri Tibbatts, Elizabeth Tomasetti, Elizabeth Uhlig, Lizanne van Essen, April Vollmer, Michael Waltz, Jake Weigel, Lee Anne Willson, Rutherford Witthus, Constance Woo, Aleksander Wozniak and Benjamin Wuest.

The Bridge: East Asian Brush Painting
from the Minnesota Ming Chiao Chapter of the Sumi-e Society of America
April 4 - July 15, 2012; on display in the Open Book lobby gallery and Cowles Literary Commons
Sumi-e, or ink and brush painting, is an East Asian artistic tradition that has been in practice for over a thousand years. The Bridge is an exhibit of Sumi-e brush paintings by members of the Minnesota Ming Chiao Chapter of the Sumi-e Society of America. Sumi-e originated in China and subsequently spread throughout Japan, Korea and Vietnam. Contemporary styles range from realistic to abstract. All Asian brush painters use similar tools and similar techniques. The tools are traditionally called "the Four Treasures" -- brush, ink stick, ink stone and rice paper. Watercolors may also be employed. Sumi-e painters strive to capture the essence or spirit of their subject. For more information on Ming Chiao or the Sumi-e Society, visit mingchiaosumie.org.

Wishes for the Sky
May 19 – July 29, 2012; on display throughout the Open Book lobby
Wishes for the Sky is a free, experiential, public art event celebrating the arrival of spring, environmental sustainability, and personal and collective wish-making. This one-of-a-kind art project has become a signature Earth Day event for the Twin Cities. Inspired by the ancient Asian traditions of flying wishes on kites, it is a contemporary art event integrating music, temporary sculpture, poetry, interactive sound collage, visual art, and public kite-flying. Beautiful kites from the 2012 Wishes for the Sky event in St. Paul (taking place April 22 on Harriet Island) will be exhibited overhead in the Open Book lobby, sharing wishes with all visitors. For more information, visit wishesforthesky.org.

Beyond the Harukaze Festival, MCBA will be offering additional coordinated programming throughout the spring and summer, including workshops for adults, families and classroom teachers. These workshops are listed among our Summer 2012 workshop schedule, and designated by a special banner:

In addition, MCBA will offer two coordinated Book Arts Roundtables, both free and open to the public:

Tuesday, May 22; 7pm: Sumi-e History and Demonstration with Collette Cumella of Ming Chiao

Tuesday, May 29; 7pm: Kiri-e Japanese Paper Cutting Arts with Sheila McNellis Asato

In Association: The Collaborative Work of Thomas Rose and Wilber H. Schilling
MCBA Star Tribune Foundation Gallery
August 10 – October 21, 2012

In Association features the work of longtime collaborators, artist and designer (and professor of art at the University of Minnesota) Thomas Rose and printmaker, binder and book artist (and recipient of the 2010 Minnesota Book Artist Award) Wilber H. "Chip" Schilling.

MCBA / Jerome Foundation Book Arts Fellowship Series XI
MCBA Star Tribune Foundation Gallery
November 2, 2012 – January 13, 2013

Since 1985, the Jerome Foundation has helped artists push the boundaries of contemporary book arts by supporting the creation of new book works. Under the previous ten series of fellowships, Minnesota artists of diverse disciplines – including printers, papermakers, binders, painters, sculptors, poets, photographers, essayists and others – have created projects ranging from exquisitely crafted fine press volumes to documented performances to one-of-a-kind installations that "break the bindings" and redefine conventional notions of book form and content.

Recipients of the MCBA/Jerome Book Arts Fellowship Series XI are: Bill Cottman, photographer; Will Dinski, cartoonist; Amanda Lovelee, video and performance artist; Cathy Ryan, book artist and printmaker; and Todd Thyberg, graphic designer and printer.

Minnesota Center for Book Arts
is open to the public seven days a week:
Mon, Wed-Sat: 10am-5pm
Tues: 10am-9pm
Sun: 12-4pm