A Message from the Director
Evolutionary Digital Printing
The concept of "printing" continues to change. Print types have become a thing of the past, and now even the most essential "plates" have become needless. We are now able to print simply with the output of digital data.
With the application of this new technology, it is now possible to order extremely small lots of prints. Digital printing has finally overcome the challenges of time and cost. In this way, on demand printing allows us to adjust "according to orders". However now we may be approaching an age of variable printing that allows us to make prints "according to scenes".
Digital printing methods will undoubtedly change the printing culture. It is also possible for conventional large-lot printing and the new small lot printing to coexist. And this will most certainly lead to further expanding the boundaries of printing potentials.
It is still difficult to predict where this evolution of digital printing will lead to. The aim of this exhibition is to view its "present" state. We hope you enjoy and we would appreciate hearing any thoughts that you may have.
Koichi Kabayama
Director
Printing Museum, Tokyo
Director's Profile
Koichi Kabayama
Director
Printing Museum, Tokyo
Born in Tokyo in 1945. Graduated from the Faculty of Letters at the University of Tokyo in 1965, and after completing the masters degree course at the university became a research assistant at the Institute for Research in Humanities, Kyoto University in 1969. Became an assistant professor at the Faculty of Letters at the University of Tokyo in 1976, and later became a professor. Served as the Director-General of The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo from 2001, becoming Director of the Printing Museum, Tokyo in 2005, a position he still holds. His fields of specialization are Western history and Western cultural history.