CARVING DISSENSUS

Contemporary Printmaking Practices in Inter-Asian Context

From 11th of october until 19th of december 2025
Everyday from 10AM to 10PM (Exept mondays)

 

In collaboration with the Inter-Asia Woodcut Mapping Group, Espace Noir is hosting a major exhibition of woodcut prints in its gallery from October 11 to December 19, 2025. Fifteen collectives and artists will take part in the exhibition, with their artworks displayed on the walls of Espace Noir for over two months.

Coming from China, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia, these fifteen collectives and artists have responded to our call to create a collective exhibition: "Carving Dissensus: Contemporary Printmaking Practices in Inter-Asian Context." The exhibition aims to present a rich panorama of contemporary woodcut printmaking practices in East and Southeast Asia. It not only seeks to show how artists use woodcut techniques to create inspiring artworks, but also to highlight their open methods of self-organization—exploring how art enables them to unite people across social classes and to restore voice and visibility to marginalized and ignored social groups.


Inter-Asia Woodcut Mapping Group
Founded in 2019, the Inter-Asia Woodcut Mapping Group focuses on the knowledge exchange of woodcut practices in inter-Asian social context. They are dedicated to organize ideas and actions in connecting exchange within the region, and closing the gap between practice and intellectual discourse, as to examine common problems through multiple perspectives across borders and localities.

 

Among the participants, you will find:

  • The Witch Printmaking Collective, a Tokyo-based collective of feminist Japanese artists.

  • Taring Padi, an Indonesian artists’ collective formed during the uprising against Suharto’s military regime.

  • Rememher Group, an art collective that uses collaborative woodcut printmaking to bring together Chinese youth and promote gender and disability justice.

  • Ong Hieng Fuong, an emerging artist currently pursuing a Master of Fine Arts at SFAI in Chongqing, whose work draws inspiration from the rhythms and experiences of his childhood in a small fishing town.

  • Dis-Print Kultur, an Indonesian artists’ collective actively opposing mass tourism in Bali.

  • Gilang Propagila, an artist, environmental activist, and figure in Bali’s Hardcore Punk scene, who uses art, publishing, and music as tools for social and environmental activism both locally and internationally.

  • Printmaking for the people, a politically engaged visual arts collective based in Manila, Philippines.

  • Pangrok Sulap, an artists’ collective from Malaysia, known for its art and activism in defense of Indigenous peoples’ rights.

  • East Asia Ecotopia, a South Korean art collective engaged in various struggles, including opposition to large-scale urban development projects.

  • Printhow, a Hong Kong-based artists’ collective involved in numerous social movements, especially in defense of the rights of migrant domestic workers in Hong Kong.

  • Willy Chen Wei-Lun, a subversive Taiwanese artist based in Taipei, known for his involvement in the regional counterculture and support for various movements and labor strikes.

  • Ina Palacio, a printmaker and art teacher based in Mandaluyong, Philippines, whose work explores flora, fauna, and sociopolitical themes.

  • A3BC (Anti-War, Anti-Nuclear and Arts of Block-print Collective), an artist-activist group founded in a self-managed infoshop in Shinjuku, Tokyo.

  • Prickly Paper, a collective based in Guangzhou (China) that promotes zine culture and offline circulation as a means of expression within the highly regulated internet environment of mainland China.

  • Woodcut Wavement, a socially engaged Chinese artist collective that organizes woodcut workshops across various regions, fostering mutual aid and integrating local issues and conditions.

 

We have already raised CHF 8,300 for this exhibition. However, we still need additional funds to cover travel and hosting expenses in Switzerland. If you would like to contribute and support this project, you can make a donation to the following account, with the reference “GRAVURE”:

IBAN: CH21 0900 0000 2300 2576 2
SWIFT/BIC : POFICHBEXXX
Bank name : Postfinance AG
Bank adress : Mingerstrasse 20, 3030 Bern, Switzerland

Beneficiary:

Galerie Coopérative ESPACE NOIR
Rue Francillon 29
2610 Saint-Imier
Switzerland

Thanks in advance <3

Espace Noir & the exhibition organization team