Project Babel

14.1.2023-14.1.2024

The Project Babel will be exhibited in Galleria Ratamo in Jyväskylä, Finland. The opening will be in the 13th of Dec at 5pm-7pm. In the exhibition, information of all the participating studios will be presented as well. 

Team Babel launched in autumn 2022 "Project Babel", a collaborative project inviting international printmakers and print studios.  

Project Babel is an international collaborative printmaking project. 335 printmakers in 40 studios from 19 countries are creating together an artwork, that is based on the painting “The Great Tower of Babel” (1563) by Pieter Bruegel the Elder.

The idea of the project has been to share the original image of the tower into segments. Each participant has got one segment (chosen by lottery) and created their own version using different printmaking techniques. In the end, all the works will be gathered as a new tower. The size of the work of one artist is 13x17cm, and the final work will be approximately 245cm x 335cm.

The Idea of Project Babel

The goal of Project Babel has been to gather printmakers from all over the world together to create new connections between studios. Collaboration enables artwork made by using multiple printmaking techniques and styles. The process is interesting in its unpredictability; the result will emerge only when we gather all the segments, and it will differ from the original in many interesting ways. 

The ability to collaborate is an essential human characteristic. The original story to which Bruegel referred, indicates a human striving to create and to cooperate. We feel this striving for cooperation forms an interesting context with regards to the present moment. 

Ratamo Babelin torni

 The Great Tower of Babel (1563) by Pieter Bruegel the Elder

Team Babel

Team Babel

Team Babel consists of four printmakers working at Ratamo printmaking studio. All team members are active longtime artists of the studio, and they have collaborated together in different projects and exhibitions. The idea of the project was born in one of their many coffee break conversations.

Anni Huttu is a self-taught printmaker, who has gained her knowledge from many different sources. Her emphasis is on drypoint. Annis art is often described as Kafkaesque. Her works combine storytelling with psychological intensity. In her works there are often seen animal and human figures and elements from nature.

Kaisa Koljonen is a professional visual artist specialized in printmaking, but she also does drawing and painting. Her emphasis is on intaglio, mixing line-etching, drypoint, mezzotint and aquatint. Her works are a unique mixture of surreal, abstract and symbolic elements. She combines esthetics from organic nature and human anatomy, to create archetypal images that have psychological and esoteric touch.

Maria Pihl is a professional visual artist, who has specialized in reduction woodcut. Maria has great skill of layering colors in her works, which are usually big and colorful. The materials she uses are important to her, like different kinds of handmade papers she uses for printing. Marias works get inspiration from her mental and spiritual life, stories of different religions, myths and tales and also nature. In her works are often seen human forms and animal figures and also different kinds of plants. The elements of her works have symbolic meanings, both universal and personal.

Naoji Ishiyama is a Japanese-born professional artist, who has a long career in printmaking. He moved to Jyväskylä Finland in 2003 and started working as a technician at printmaking studio Ratamo, while working there also as a free artist. He works mainly on drypoint, and has developed a  method, which allows him to use a wide range of gray-scale rich in nuances, with an astounding emphasis on detail. The imagery of his works contain objects he finds personally interesting, including natural forms like unique trees and stones and also man-made objects and constructions.

Participants

Australia
Australian Print Workshop
Jennifer Marshall

Belgium
Printstudio Foundation VR
Hanna de Haan, Ardui Henri, Van den Heuvel Hilde, Van Goethem Lana, Robroeks Mieke, Gotlib Nathan, Daeleman Sarah, Rooms Veerle

Canada
Atelier de l'Île
Marie-Claude Arnaud, Paul Ballard, Louise Bariteau, Claire Brunet, Marie Daoust, Claudette Domingue, Suzanne FerlandL, Claudel Lacroix, Louise Ladouceur, Olga Inés Magnano, Ginette Piché, Odette Pinard, Christine Rolland, Cédric St-Jean, Jessica Tibo

Denmark
Fyns Grafiske Værksted
Elsemarie Albrecht, Pernille Andersen,  Martin Askholm, Merete Bartholdy, Marie Weber Carlsen, Patricia Delgado, Malone Dietrich, Gert Ejton, Vinni Elgaard, Sten Fjordside, Carsten Frederiksen, Anne Grarup, Grethe Hald, Linka Hedsbjerg, Annemette Heltoft, Katja Herrik, Annette Kampmann Ilfeldt, Mogens Jessing, Teresa Larsen, Dorthe Blom Madsen, Inge Marie Mørcke, Helle Bjørnebo Neidhardt, Per Nielsen, Birgitte Rubæk, Anna Siek, Christina Simon, Katja Tang-Petersen,  Elsbeth Burgwald Thostrup

Denmark
Korsør Grafiske Værksted
Helle Petersen, Nancy Saks,  Susanne Thea

Denmark
Tolstrup Pryds Grafisk
Allan Axelsen, Claudio Bannwart, Charlotte Binau, Karen Brandt, Espen Brandt-Møller, Eva Carstensen, Palle Rud Christoffersen, Parul Modha, Christie Munck, Gina Hedegaard Nielsen, Lars Pryds, Mette Rix, Inga Vestergaard Sørensen, Lisbeth Tolstrup

Finland
Arabian Taidegraafikot
Teija Immonen, Vappu Johansson, Taina Kokkonen, Seela Petra, Metta Savolainen

Finland
Helsinki Litho
Roma Auskalnyte, Kalle Berg, Matti Hintikka

Finland
Kellaripress Printmaking Studio
Sari Majander

Finland
Lahden Taidegraafikot ry
Markku Alhonen, Ihana Havo, Eeva Jauhiainen, Susanna Judin, Sirpa Lappalainen, Minna Louhelainen, Jaana Paulus, Sirpa Pyykkö, Tiina Salmi, Antti Salokannel, Jouni Salonen, Pekka Syrjälä, Eila Weckman

Finland
Lapaluodon grafiikanpaja
Raija Korppila, Juha Laakso

Finland
Grafiikka- ja valokuvakeskus Ratamo
Maija Albrecht, Cléa Darnaud, Dean Dass, Dominic Fee, Fernando García, Mari Hallapuro, Natalie Hamada, Tanuja Rane Hambardikar, Annika Heinonen, Lars Holmström, Nina Huisman, Anni Huttu, Naoji Ishiyama, Joana Kairiené, Juho Karjalainen, Sirkku Ketola, Kaisa Koljonen, Aura Kotkavirta, Pekka Kuikka, Janne Laine, Miina Laine, Guy Langevin, Emma Lappalainen, Stephen Lawlor, Henna Lehtoaho, Pirjo Luoma, Jyrki Markkanen, Borja Moreno, Yuki Nagashima, Jenni Niskala, Elisa Pellizzari, Tuukka Peltonen, Maria Pihl, Tomiyuki Sakuta, Alexandra Schewski, Päivi Somppi, Amy Sterly, Harri Taskinen, Noora Tervakoski, Roberta Vaigeltaitė-V., Kęstutis Vasiliūnas, Iana Vulpe, Ismo Vuorela, Dominik Wlodarek, Junji Yamada

Finland
Studio Marstähti
Tuula Moilanen, Irma Tonteri

Finland
Grafiikanpaja Piccolo
Tarja Heilimo, Emmi Sinkkonen, Juha Välimäki

Finland
Vargas Print Studio
Rita Vargas

France
Atelier Imago
Adélie Devaux, Alban Dreyssé

France
Centre Culturel le Bief
Ben Quêne, Montaine Sanchez

Germany
Hochdruckpartner
Harald Alff, Katja Zwirmann

Ireland
Leinster Printmaking Studio
Margaret Becker, Pamela De Brí, Melissa Cherry, Burcu Dundar, Jane Ellis, Mir Fitzgerald, Sylvia Hemmingway, Val Hennigan, Bethan Hodgson, Jo Howard, Eileen Keane, Hilary Kinahan, Mary Mcgrath, Nuala O'dea, Frank Rafter, Deirdre Shanley, Katherine Smits, Michele Sweetman

Israel
Studio Shopen
Rotem Bides, Feodor Brodski, Yael Moshe Kama, Liav Shopen

Italy
Black Box Press Studio
Vito Adamo, Davide Ubaldini

Japan
Atelier ACHI
Makiko Kakiuchi, Shohei Uchida

Luxembourg
Empreinte atelier de gravure
Diane Jodes, Asta Kulikauskaité-Krivickiené, Pablo Quert, Yvonne Simon, Patricia Wohl

Pakistan
Studio Iram
Sohaina Elia, Farah Faisal, Rashda Faridi, Mah Misha Fatima, Osman Hyder, Shahbano Kazmi, Beenish Khalid, Summaiya Khan, Madiha Khan, Mehr Bano Khattak, Rabia Khurshid, Sadaf Mirza, Shaheera Mughal, Nadia Rahat, Yashfa Raza, Saima Salahuddin, Siebel Sohail, Aqeel Solangi, Iram Wani, Zaira Ahmad Zaka

Portugal
Associação de Gravura Água-Forte
Fátima Ferreira, Madalena Fonseca, Catarina Longa Freire, Ana Galvão, Maria Manuel Lira, Manuel Lopes, Margarida Lourenço, Tereza Morgado, Teresa Pato, Palmira Pires, Amélia Soares

Portugal
Matriz Associação de Gravura do Porto
Mami Higuchi, Evandro Renan, Julia Pintão, Najla Leroy

Spain
Art Print Residence
Ariadna Abadal, Teofil Androne, Joan Ramon Cabús, Eduard Huertos, Neus Soler

Spain
Estudio Fabiola Gil
Fabiola Gil Alares, Mar Gascón Artal, Lola Manjón González, Laura Hettler, Marta Gómez Izquierdo, Juan Luis Gallego Porras, Laura Martínez Sinovas, 

Spain
GALLERIA TALLER GRAVURA
Paco Aguilar, Caterina de Nisco, Eryk Pall, Javier Roz

Spain
TINTAENTERA
Jorge Andia, Emilia Dominguez, Jesús Molledo, Natalia Royo, Alejandro M. Sanz, Mónica Vazquez

Sweden
Ålgården Borås
Thomas Carlund, Christina France, Anna Mattsson, Vero Olsson, Malin Rolfsdotter, Linn Sundqvist, Lena Waldau

Switzerland
Atelier Genevois de Gravure Contemporaine
Pablo Osorio (avezsa)

United Kingdom
Clifton Editions
Sheena Vallely, Marie Walker, John White

United Kingdom
Edinburgh Printmakers Print Studio
June August, Lindy Furby, Yasmeen Khan, Rona MacLean, Fiona Maher, Irene Narbutt, Cat Outram, Robert Powell, Ursula Pretsch, Masha Tiplady, Mary Walters, Nicola Weir

United Kingdom
John Howard Print Studios
Becky Haughton, John Howard, Jason Lilley, Phil Naylor, Clementine Neild, Sally Spens

United Kingdom
Oxford Printmakers Co-operative
David Barron, Catriona Brodribb, Isabel Carmona, Jackie Conway, Felicity Cormack, Claire Drinkwater, Helen Ganly, Jack Goozee, Charlie Lee Potter, Biddy Hudson, Kassandra Isaacson, Rahima Kenner, Annemarie LePretre, Sally Levell, Jenny Lines, Kathrin Luddecke, Maria Maldonado, Karen Morecroft, Mary Jane Pearce, Elizabeth Piggott, Gill Salway, Ann Spencer, Nik Stanbridge, Richard Stephens

United Kingdom
SLAUGHTERHAUS Print Studio
Nilofar Akmut, James Anderson, Lucy Annan, Michelle Avison, Helen Breach, Chris Christodoulou, Alex Le Fevre, Sarah Gursoy-Heuser, Christine Hirsch-Wilton, Boris Kwok, SooMin Leong, Skyler Yixian Lin, Valeria Pilloni, Sarah Praill, Fiona Stephen, Katy Tee, Ruth Tovim, Rob White, Claire Willberg, Ziqi Xu

United Kingdom
Spike Print Studio
Jess Bugler, Caroline Case, Elaine Cooper, Irena Czapska, Nicky Guest, Amy Hutchings, Emily Ketteringham, Jude Maguire, Ivana Svabic-Cannon, Jess Townsend

United Kingdom
The Society of Wood Engravers
Louise Hayward, David Moyer, Anne Desmet RA, Roy Willingham

United States
Constellation Studios
Joslyn Andreason, Keith Buswell, Karen Kunc, Kyle Nobels