Holzschnitt
Teija Lehto, Finnland, *1965 | «Dish Board, part one», Holzschnitt mehrfarbig, 38 x 56 cm, 2005

History of Xylon International

XYLON – International Society of Wood Engravers wwas founded in 1953 in order to extend the scope of the Swiss Society XYLOS founded in 1944.

The Belgian artist Frans Masereel (1889-1972) was founding member and first President of XYLON INTERNATIONAL.

 

Aim

XYLON INTERNATIONAL aims to unite artists from all over the world which employ the techniques of the artistic relief printing and to promote this art.

XYLON INTERNATIONAL is neutral with regard to politics and religion. It accepts all artistic tendencies.

XYLON INTERNATIONAL intends to facilitate communication among artists in order to exchange experience and information.

XYLON INTERNATIONAL organises the international triennials XYLON.

XYLON INTERNATIONAL, originally almost exclusively committed to wood cut and wood engraving (xylon - greek for ‘wood’), today also includes other block printing techniques regardless of the materials used, such as lino, plaster, plastic etc.

 

Organisation

Autonomous sections which are the bases of XYLON INTERNATIONAL at present exist in Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Sweden and Switzerland. The varied activities of the sections include the organisation of exhibitions, also in exchange with other sections, printing shops, organisation of workshops and edition of collector’s portfolios, catalogues, periodicals and books.

 

Triennial Xylon

XYLON INTERNATIONAL organises the international triennials XYLON, which traditionally are also accessible to non-members, not least in order to keep in touch with trends and developments, but also to win new members

XYLON 1 was inaugurated in the «Kunsthalle» Zurich in 1953. Later triennials followed from Geneva and Fribourg. From 1983 till 2000 the triennials were organised from «Gewerbemuseum» (museum for arts and crafts) in Winterthur

 

Since 2003 XYLON INTERNATIONAL has its domicile in St. Louis, France.

 

Currently XYLON INTERNATIONAL is inactive.

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