Guanlan Artist in Residence

Going to Guanlan. Assume that now you have read all the detailed information on the Guanlan Original Printmaking Base on the internet and are preparing to go.

If you are applying for more than one month, best you go to the Chinese Embassy or Consulate with your letter of invitation. If you apply through a travel agent you will just get the basic 30 day visa which applies to most countries. You can renew your visa in Hong Kong.

If you are not comfortable with humidity or monsoonal rains despite air-conditioning, you should choose the cooler months from October to March. December and January are definitely cold.

If you don't think you can eat Chinese food for 3 months, although it is well balanced with green vegetables and fruit and served in a spotless canteen, you need to re think your length of residency. A variety of good imported wine can be purchased at the local shops but they are expensive. Local beer is fine. Plenty of tea but take your own coffee and plunger if you are an addict. Every house and studio has a water bottle unit.

Language and communication can be difficult but not necessarily a problem. Director, Zhao Jiachun is a perfect host, good fun and enthusiastic who will try his hardest to fulfil artist's every wish. The technicians speak very little English or none and understand even less if English is not your mother tongue. But speaking directly and clearly and in short simple sentences, using images if necessary helps. Smart phones with translations can also be useful. Try to engage the head technician in your project and work out a production plan. But don't be disappointed if they show absolutely no interest, to them it's just another job. This is the factory aspect of China with an emphasis on editions. So far there has been very little interest in sharing and learning new ideas but hopefully in time this will change. This is not the case with the invited Chinese artists whom you will find eager and interesting along with the other nationalities.

Working on your project you need to find a balance and an understanding on what you do and what the technicians do and here I can really only speak for the etching workshop. Most artists have had 20 to 30 years experience in printing their editions whilst the technicians have had a fraction of that time. My advise is that you print your edition utilising the help of the technicians. The technicians will cut, polish and degrease plates, apply aquatints in the electric aquatint box and prepare paper all of which are an enormous help. The size of the edition (usually 30) can depend on how many prints you want after giving Guanlan their 8 prints. The copper, zinc, acids, blankets, photoetching and presses maybe different from what you have worked with so first take a good look at the studio facilities and what other artists are doing.

What you should bring are some ideas to get started, some gifts that represent your country and an open mind. Were my two months at Guanlan enjoyable and interesting? Absolutely.