Looking back: From sketch to woodblock print 9 September 2022

On 9 September 2022 we visited the depot of the Museum Volkenkunde in Leiden. Curator Japan & Korea of the National Museum of World Cultures and board member of the SJA, Daan Kok, lead us through the collaborative process of woodblock print making.

Daan took us to the top floor of the museum, where endless rows of cabinets with the most diverse objects are kept under strict climate-controlled conditions. Numerous objects from the collections of chief Jan Cock Blomhoff, doctor and researcher Von Siebold and warehouse master Van Overmeer Fisscher are displayed here. In an adjacent room, Daan showed the process of designing and printing a Japanese color woodblock print. We saw sketches and final designs by the artist, woodblocks for the line printing and various blocks for the different colors used and even blind embossing. We saw the blocks were cut on both sides, because the hard cherry wood was scarce and expensive. It was very interesting to see the different stages of the print process and the instruments that are used to produce woodblock prints.

Second edition of 'From sketch to woodblock print' in 2023.  

We will organize a second edition of 'From Sketch to woodblock print' in the first half of 2023. The interest exceeded the maximum allowed in the depot and the train strike limited travel to Leiden on 9 september 2022. We will keep you posted!