Exhibition “Woodcuts in the Digital Age”

Opening: Fri 07 Sep, 6.30 pm
Artist talk: Wed 12 Sep, 6.30 pm
Exhibition: 08 – 30 Sep 2012
Goethe-Institut Hanoi

From Goethe Institut:
The Goethe-Institut Hanoi presents a representative exhibition of 50 woodblock prints – series and large format pieces – by Christiane Baumgartner, as well as artists’ books and a video

Christiane Baumgartner: From Leipzig to Hanoi as an artist-in-Residence

The German graphic artist Christiane Baumgartner will be a guest artistin Hanoi for three months from September 1st. She is the first artist to be awarded the newly created annual residency grant, presented by the Cultural Foundation of Saxony and organized jointly with the Goethe Institute in Vietnam. Christiane Baumgartner, who has became known internationally for her large-scale innovative woodcuts, will immerse herself in the culture and the arts scene in Vietnam, goingin search of traditional wood carving and sharingher experiences on the topic of the art of woodcutswith young artists.

The Leipzig-based artist will also work on her own projects in a studio at the “Center of Contemporary Art” in Hanoi. The aim of the scholarship is not only to find new inspiration in Vietnam, but also to establish contact with Vietnamese artists. Therefore, Christiane Baumgartner will participate in artists meetings and in October / November will give week-long “Open Academy” workshops at art schools in Hanoi, Hue and Saigon.

About Christiane Baumgartner

Christiane Baumgartner, born 1967, studied from 1988 to 1994 at the School of Visual Arts in Leipzig and from 1997 to 1999 at the Royal College of Art, London. Her main artistic medium is printmaking. Particularly well known are her woodcuts. For these she usuallyworks from her own video recordings, producing stills in the form of woodcuts, often in very large formats. Christiane Baumgartner is internationally known and has been honored with awards, her works are in museums in Leipzig, Vienna, London, New York, Amsterdam.

Artist Talk: Trends in woodcuts today in Germany and Vietnam

In addition to the exhibition by Christiane Baumgartner, the Goethe-Institut Hanoi will invite well-known Hanoi artists to a German-Vietnamese artist discussion. The focus is the woodcut, which has a centuries-old tradition in both Germany and Vietnam. Currently, there are trends in both countries to revive this art form by combining it with new media, new styles and new image content.

Lectures by Christiane Baumgartner and Pham Khac Quang about their work, with contributions by other artists and discussion.

Free Admission.