IMC 2024 Echizen submission

This print represents Yuta Konno's submission to the Juried International Mokuhanga Exhibition at the Fifth International Mokuhanga Conference (IMC 2024), held in Echizen — a region historically central to Japanese [washi](/glossary/washi) paper production. Konno's work was selected for the Asia regional component of the exhibition, which assembles contemporary practitioners from across the continent working in the water-based woodblock tradition. As with his earlier IMC 2021 submission to the Sumi-Fusion exhibition in Nara, this piece reflects sustained engagement with mokuhanga as a contemporary art medium rather than a strictly reproductive craft. Contemporary mokuhanga of this kind typically employs hand-burnished impressions made with a [baren](/glossary/baren) on kozo or [gampi](/glossary/gampi) washi, with pigments applied as water-based washes that allow for [bokashi](/glossary/bokashi) gradations and layered tonal effects not available in oil-based relief printing. Konno's repeated inclusion in IMC juried exhibitions indicates ongoing participation in the international community of practitioners working to extend the technical and expressive vocabulary of the medium beyond its historical association with [ukiyo-e](/glossary/ukiyo-e).