Baren Exchange #19

Details of [Baren Exchange 19]

Medium: woodblock print (hand rubbed or pulled on a press, B&W or colour, any pigments, any paper)
Theme: Shunga. The original "pillow book" theme for this exchange was proposed by John Center during the Baren Summit in Kansas City. It seemed to generate a lot of interest at the Summit and broad support on the forum. 'Shunga' is a Japanese word meaning 'spring picture' (erotic art). Among the earliest types of Japanese woodblock prints, shunga were first common in the 17th century and remained popular through the present day. Frequently described as 'sex manuals', 'courtesan critiques', shunga depicted highly explicit scenes of physical love. The participants were only rarely pictured completely naked. Although male/female couples were the usual fare, women with women, men with men, men with boys, and larger groups were not uncommon.
Paper: chu-ban about 10 x 7 1/2 inches (25.4 x 19 cm).
Paper type: no restriction
Registration period: One month starting October 1, 2003 (or until 30 participants are enrolled)
Deadline for finished prints: February 1st, 2004