The Print Biennial Exhibition in Chennai brings together artists from Latin America and North Africa to showcase printmaking as a global language of resistance.

The ongoing Print Biennial Exhibition at the Lalit Kala Akademi, Chennai, unfolds as a journey far beyond India’s borders, tracing artistic genealogies shaped by revolution and resistance in Latin America and North Africa. Presented as a collateral program of India’s 3rd Print Biennial, the exhibition includes a selection from the Boty Lens family collection, which was initiated by Dr. Lilian Lens, recipient of the Cuban National Award for Cultural Research, and curated in India by her daughter Lilium Mariana Boty Lens. Bringing together the works of 48 printmaking artists from regions including Mexico, Cuba, Argentina, Brazil and Chile, the exhibition is based on the socio-political upheavals of the 1980s and 1990s. It shows printmaking as a political and creative tool, creating works that weave stories across countries and continents.

The exhibition showcases the different possibilities and variations within printing techniques, such as lithograph, serigraph, etching and engraving, rather than focusing on any one theme. “The aim is to connect audiences to artworks and artists by showing how people around the world are thinking about similar things like politics, portraiture and abstract art,” says Lilliam.

For example, the late Panamanian artist Guillermo Trujillo’s paper engraving Nuchos Cazadores depicts a series of nuchos (members of Panamanian tribes) who are in the middle of a hunt. His works include political and social satire as well as the relationship between man and nature. As displayed in the exhibition, Trujillo’s artworks often combine human sculptures with references to Panamanian anthropology, petroglyphs and geometric forms.

Algerian artist Rachid Korachi’s lithograph print work titled A Nation in Exile: Engraved Hymn (Set 3), 2017, displays Arabic calligraphic scripts, composed of symbols and ciphers drawn from his own culture. Another artwork by the Cuban artist, titled Sunrise from the Cave José Franco Codinach interweaves images and textures, exploring the border between nature and spirit, life and technology, the real and the surreal, the primitive and the modern. “The works presented at the Printmaking Biennial are representative of my artistic practice, as they share a central concept: the relationship between mankind and nature, as well as the beauty of nature, which often goes unnoticed,” says José.

He added, “I hope the public will gain a broader understanding of the art produced in areas far from the most famous art centers, as well as the diverse ways of interpreting the world and the techniques of printmaking.”

The exhibition features artworks by Cuban artist José Braulio Bedía Valdés linked to Cuban tradition, particularly African tradition, and other traditions of Latin America and the native cultures of the Americas. One of his artworks depicts a ‘Cougar Man’, a cat-like man with the head of a cougar and the body of a man. Then there is another figure with a bull’s head. “Through these pieces I tried to talk about the permanence of a certain spiritual force in every material part of our lives,” says Jose.

Rooted in a history of resistance, deeply personal in expression, the works reveal printmaking as a powerful language of memory, spirituality, and dissent.

The third Print Biennial of India will run from 11 am to 7 pm till January 18 on the first floor of Lalit Kala Akademi, Chennai.