Paper and People: Imadate Art Field, 1979-Present
Imadate Art Field, a non-profit arts organization, has programmed contemporary paper art exhibitions in Echizen, Japan since the 1970s. Echizen is home to a traditional hand papermaking region with over 1,500 years of history, and this community has long supported the efforts of Imadate Art Field in bringing papermaking into the realm of contemporary art.
Cladis served on the executive committee from 2016-20, working to restore regional historic structures in Echizen and transform them into alternative exhibition spaces for installation art. He continues to maintain an active relationship with the organization.
In 2023, as part of a Japan Foundation and Ishibashi Fellowship for Research on Japanese Art, Cladis traveled to Echizen, Japan to interview the original members of Imadate Art Field and do a deep dive into IAF’s history. He also expanded his own archive of IAF ephemera, catalogs, and posters. This research was presented at the International Association of Hand Papermakers conference in Dresden, Germany in autumn 2023.
In 2024, Cladis invited current IAF director Masuda Yoriyasu to Iowa City through the Iowa Arts Council and with support from local, non-profit arts space Public Space One. Together, Masuda and Cladis curated a reading room of these past exhibition catalogs and ephemera that had never before been displayed outside of Japan.
A special thanks to Hannah Givler and Kalmia Strong!
