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Karen Oremus (Session Chair)
Department of Art and Design
Zayed University, PO Box  4783
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Telephone: 050/ 566 9157   02/ 445 3300 (864)
Email: karen.oremus@zu.ac.ae

Panel Session: “Cultural Kontakt Session #1”

The topic of this session addresses the importance of “Cross Cultural Exchange” between printmakers internationally. The benefits and challenges of “Cross Cultural Exchange” will be explored through the art of printmaking. Various aspects of cultural exchange will be examined including the adventures and risks, both psychological and sociological, of experiencing a culture different from one’s own. This topic will be explored from the perspectives of panel members representing North America, Europe and the Middle East.

Our panel has worked internationally as both artists and educators in the medium of printmaking. While working abroad, each member has developed relationships with artists of various cultures that were fostered due to an interest in each other’s unique way of life, their spoken and visual language, and strengthened through the common language of printmaking. These relationships occurred not only among colleagues, but also among students who had the opportunity to study and/or work abroad. Broadening ones’ knowledge and experience through international exchanges in the arts creates a global perspective that can only assist in an artist’s development. Print exchanges and international exhibitions offer a sense of community, teamwork and sharing across the globe- a cultural exchange via art. Furthermore, printmaking promotes community projects and offers a unique exchange to people who may not have the opportunity to physically cross borders due to cultural restrictions, and due to financial constraints. For these artists, the practices of the printmaking community can partially compensate for these restrictions. Print exchanges, both traditional and digital, offer opportunities for students to learn about international artists with minimized effort and cost. 

Topics that will be discussed include various aspects of study abroad, including the  standpoint of a European school teaching American students, and vise versa. The development of printmaking in the Gulf region will be explored, specifically Abu Dhabi, the conservative capital of the United Arab Emirates. Panel members will also delve into the individual’s odyssey, the personal and creative changes that can manifest themselves in cultural exchanges.

KAREN OREMUS was born in Canada and has worked as an artist and educator internationally in countries such as Canada, the United States, Italy, Croatia, Bulgaria and the Middle East. She graduated with her MFA from the Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia, where she also taught printmaking for two years. Karen is now in her third year working as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Art and Design at Zayed University in The United Arab Emirates. She is responsible for the establishment and development of the Printmaking Department on the Abu Dhabi campus.

Daniel Dallmann
Professor of Printmaking
Tyler School of Art
Temple University
7725 Penrose Avenue
Elkins Park, Pennsylvania 19027 USA

DANIEL DALLMANN holds an M.F.A. in Printmaking from the University of Iowa and is currently Professor of Printmaking at the Tyler School of Art, Temple University, where he has taught for over thirty years. He taught at Temple’s Rome program from 1974-76 and has recently returned from a second two-year assignment to Rome, 2000-2002. He has done workshops and residencies in the United States, Russia and Italy. Dallmann's works are found in many private, corporate and public collections; he has exhibited his prints and paintings in exhibitions across the US and abroad.

Richard Hricko
Associate Dean
Tyler School of Art
Temple University
7725 Penrose Avenue
Elkins Park, Pennsylvania 19027 USA

RICHARD HRICKO is the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, and an Associate Professor of Printmaking at the Tyler School of Art of Temple University in Philadelphia. In 1979 Hricko completed his MFA in Printmaking at Temple University’s Rome Program. He has done workshops, lectures and has exhibited his work throughout the United States and abroad. He is the President, Director and Founder of Crane Arts, LLC in Philadelphia, a community-based arts project space.

Kip Deeds
422 Merion Drive,
Newtown, PA 18940 USA

KIPP DEEDS was born in 1973 and grew up in Newtown, Pennsylvania.  Deeds went to art school at Temple University in Philadelphia and later went on to do graduate studies at the University Illinois in painting and printmaking. His recent solo exhibits in 2004 and 2005 have taken place at Millersville University of Pennsylvania, Illinois Weslyan University, and Webster University in St. Louis. Recent group exhibits include “The Comix: Cartoons as Art” at Art In City Hall in Philadelphia; “American Impression: Contemporary American Printmaking” at William Patterson University in New Jersey and “Tell Me a Story of a World Without Words” at City Without Walls in Newark, New Jersey. Deeds has taught at the University of Pennsylvania, Webster University, Temple University and Edinboro University of Pennsylvania.  He is currently a Lecturer in printmaking at Princeton University.  Most recently Deeds was at Frans Masereel Centre, in Kasterlee, Belgium, as a resident printmaker.