This exhibition emerged from a meeting between Gippsland Centre for Art and Design Director Rodney Forbes and Navajo artist Melanie Yazzie at Colorado University in 2012.

A collaborative print exchange was organized to bring together American and Australian printmakers, both indigenous and non-indigenous and to exhibit the results at both universities.

“Print exchange folios are a remarkable way of setting up networks between artists. Each artist produces an edition of prints large enough for everyone in the collaboration to receive a copy, plus several copies for exhibition and subsequent retention in institution collections. As prints are a portable and multiple form, the process lends itself to exchanges across great distance and across cultures. The theme of the portfolio was ‘exchanging story’ – how sharing stories creates both understanding and wonder across cultures as well as revealing commonalities.’

Accompanying the Exchanging Story folio is Tracking, Locating and Mapping, a second exchange folio curated by Melanie Yazzie. Featuring printmakers from across USA, Finland, Canada and Australia, it examines the concept of special places.

Each artist has provided a statement, which tells of the story or place which inspired the work. There will be a public ‘closing’ of the exhibition on Tuesday February 26 at 5pm with a floortalk by the co-curator, Rodney Forbes.