Published 04 August 2026 in News
HEAT Winter Arts Festival 2026
Japanese Woodblock Printing Workshop during HEAT Winter Arts Festival 2026
Iziko Old Town House Museum
149 Longmarket Street, Cape Town City Centre, Cape Town 8000 South Africa
14 August 2026, 14:00-16:00 (SAST)
Japanese woodblock printing, or mokuhanga, is a centuries-old printmaking tradition that flourished during Japan’s Edo period and became internationally renowned through the vibrant Ukiyo-e (“floating world”) prints of artists such as Hokusai and Hiroshige. This introductory workshop, led by South African artist Natasha Norman, offers participants a hands-on experience of this distinctive contemporary printing process while exploring its rich cultural and material history.
Unlike many Western relief printing techniques, mokuhanga uses water-based pigments rather than oil-based inks, finely carved wooden blocks, handmade washi paper, and a handheld printing tool known as a baren instead of a mechanical press. The process encourages a slower, more tactile approach in which colour is applied by brush, allowing subtle gradations and luminous surfaces to emerge. Participants will be introduced to the unique materials and methods that distinguish mokuhanga from Western printmaking, including the carving approach, the preparation of pigments, paper handling, and hand-printing techniques. Working from pre-carved woodblocks, each participant will print and layer colours by hand to produce two original mokuhanga prints. By the end of the workshop, participants will leave with a deeper appreciation of this remarkable printmaking tradition, practical knowledge of its processes, and two finished artworks to take home.
Designed for beginners and those curious about Japanese printmaking, the workshop offers an opportunity to experience the slower, tactile rhythm of mokuhanga and to discover how this centuries-old practice continues to inspire contemporary artists around the world.
Natasha Norman is a visual artist whose practice explores the quiet threshold between observation and contemplation through the material language of printmaking. She graduated with an MFA from UCT’s Michaelis School of Fine Art in 2011 where she continues to lecture in a part-time capacity. She has attended three residencies in Japan to develop her knowledge of Japanese woodblock printing (Mokuhanga). She has exhibited widely throughout her career, most recently with her artist collective, The Mokuhanga Sisters, at the Udatsu Paper and Craft Museum in Echizen City, Japan. She is also an active member of the national collective of women print artists, The Printing Girls. Natasha’s work has been included in various collections including The Victoria and Albert Museum, London; The Art Bank of South Africa, The National Museum in Bloemfontein, The Iziko South African National Gallery and Richard F. Brush Gallery at St Lawrence University, USA. In 2019 Natasha co-founded Mokuhanga Kai, a society for the promotion of Japanese woodblock printing in South Africa to further access to and knowledge about this non-toxic print medium.
For more information and to book please navigate to the HEAT Winter Arts Festival 2026 website here