I have been regular visitor to Novosibirsk, Siberia, since 1998, when I curated a UK International Digital Print exhibition ArCade, in their State Art Museum. Since that time two large Biennales have been instigated at the Museum, AniGma: The Novosibirsk International Festival Digital technologies in Contemporary Art and The Biennale of International Contemporary Graphic Art. Which has now been successfully running for twelve years, but as yet has never included the work by any UK printmakers. However last year it was suggested to me by Andrey Martynov, the Biennial Director and now Director of the Moscow Biennale, that he would like me to curate a representative selection of UK Prints for the VI Biennial, (September – November 2009). I did this in conjunction with the Vice Chair of the (PMC) Printmakers Council, UK, Stephen Mumberson. We selected eight UK printmakers, whose work covers a wide spectrum of printmaking techniques and ideas.

To enhance the UK presence further within the Biennale; I was asked to attend the opening of the exhibition on 12 September ’09 and to be a judge for their prize winners, and to participate in a seminar ‘Graphics a Living Force in Art’, which included presentations from international artists and curators. The Biennale featured curated work from over 25 countries. The total number of artists exhibiting was over 260, including prints from USA, Argentina, Brazil, Israel, Korea and Taiwan. It is the largest and the most representative GRAPHIC show in Russian. The central location of Novosibirsk, (which is the third largest city in Russia), enables it to bring together the work from both the Russian Federation, the Former Soviet Union countries.

There is a full colour catalogue that accompanies the show. One of the UK artists Jo Love was awarded the digital print prize for her work.

Following up on the international contacts I made at the exhibition, I curated an international printmaking exhibition in the Phoenix Gallery, Brighton (3 July – 15 August 2010) titled HOT PLATE. This include work by 10 representative countries. To accompany the exhibition there was a one-day symposium and two workshops, held in conjunction with the Printmaking Department of the University and the PMC, to enhance the opportunities for further international collaborative exchanges. A number of the international curators/selectors attended the opening in Brighton and participated in the workshops and seminars.