In August 2024 Galleri Valdal is proud to present “Project Babel” – an international printmaking collaboration project. 329 printmakers from 40 studios in 19 countries are creating together an artwork based on the iconic painting “The Great Tower of Babel” (1563) by Pieter Bruegel the Elder.
The project was initiated by four graphic artists from Ratamo Printmaking and Photography Centre in Jyväskylä, Finland.
The idea of the project is to share the original image of the Tower in segments. The participants remake their shared segments in their own ways using different printmaking techniques. Finally all the works will be gathered again as a new Tower. Each artist’s segment is 13×17cm, and the gathered image will be around 240×335 cm. The result of the project was first exhibited in Galleria Ratamo from 14 December 2023 to 14 January 2024. It has also been exhibited at Constellation Studios in Lincoln, Nebraska, USA, 12 April – 24 May 2024. Galleri Valdal will be the only place in Denmark to show this unique collaborative work.
Read more about the Danish participation: pryds.com/babel
August 3rd – 31st, 2024
Project Babel
Galleri Valdal, Bykildevej 8, kld.th.
DK-2500 Valby
Opening ceremony/Vernissage:
Saturday August 3rd, 2024 1pm-5pm
Opening hours:
Thursday+Friday 2pm-6pm
Saturday 11am-2pm
See Project Babel come into being in the gallery, print after print, row by row:
… and see glimpses of the dismantling of the project:
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Download Grand Opening invitation (PDF, A5):
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Download exhibition poster (PDF, A3):
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Download presentation of studios (PDF, A5):
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Download list of all artists (PDF, A4):
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The final work measures about 240×335 cm. Foto: Lars Pryds
Photo from the opening af Project Babel in Galleria Ratamo, Jyväskylä, Finland December 13th, 2023. Photo: Lars Pryds
More info on Project Babel’s own website
or Instagram profile: printmaking_project_babel
Some of the 329 prints, each 13×17 cm. Photo: Project Babel
Team Babel, initiators of Project Babel. From left to right: Naoji Ishiyama, Kaisa Koljonen, Maria Pihl and Anni Huttu. Photo: Project Babel
On the penultimate opening day of the PROJECT BABEL exhibition, Friday 30 August, we invite you to a small event in Galleri Valdal, where we will be visited by two of the Finnish initiators of this magnificent project, which will later be shown in e.g. Canada and Belgium.
The program for Friday 30 August looks like this:
14.00-18.00 The exhibition is open
16.00-18.00 MINI GRAPHICS SEMINAR (in the gallery)
1. Welcome
Presentation of today’s program as well as a short intro to the gallery and the Danish version of Project Babel, by Lars Pryds
2. Introduction to Pieter Bruegel the Elder
With a focus on the “Tower of Babel” (1563), by Lisbeth Tolstrup, art historian cand.mag.
3. Meet TEAM BABEL
Anni Huttu and Kaisa Koljonen from the Ratamo Printmaking and Photography Center in Jyväskylä talk about the project’s path from idea to realization and show images from the initial experiments before Project Babel found its final form. In addition, the two graphic artists will give an overview of what has happened to the project in the recent year and discuss ideas for its future.
4. The word is free – presentation for mutual inspiration:
If you are a Babel artist: tell us about your work with your Babel print. If you are associated with a graphics workshop: tell us about how you work with the graphics, are organized, use each other as inspiration or the like. If you are a happy graphic lover, please tell us about your experience of Project Babel. Or something completely different.
At 18.00 Galleri Valdal hosts a bite of bread, cheese and sausage and a glass of wine or water. A simple meal in the spirit of Pieter Breugel, with the opportunity for informal conversation and togetherness.
NOTE: The seminar is held in English.
RSVP: Please let us know at kontakt@gallerivaldal.dk if you are coming, so we know how many chairs (and how much bread) we have to provide.