IMC 2024 Echizen submission

This print represents Ziwen Wang's submission to the Juried International Mokuhanga Exhibition at IMC 2024, held in Echizen — a region of Fukui Prefecture historically associated with [washi](/glossary/washi) production. As a juried submission, the work was selected for inclusion in the Asia regional exhibition, placing it within a curated international showcase of contemporary water-based woodblock practice. Without direct visual reference, the technical parameters can be inferred from the medium: mokuhanga executed with water-soluble pigments, hand-burnished with a [baren](/glossary/baren) onto washi, with registration achieved through carved [kento](/glossary/kento) marks rather than mechanical alignment. Contemporary mokuhanga practitioners working in Japan typically pull editions in small numbers and often incorporate [bokashi](/glossary/bokashi) gradations and reduction-block techniques absent from Edo-period [nishiki-e](/glossary/nishiki-e). Wang's participation reflects the ongoing internationalization of mokuhanga since the founding of the International Mokuhanga Conference in 2011, where Chinese-born artists trained in Japan represent a meaningful constituency — bringing the lineage of Chinese woodblock printing into dialogue with the specific material vocabulary of Japanese water-based methods, particularly the use of nori paste, sumi, and pigments ground for absorbency on dampened washi.