Diepdruk – Vlakdruk – Hoogdruk -Doordruk: 50 jaar Frans Masereel Centrum, Kasterlee (1972-2022)

With this publication, the Frans Masereel Centre in Kasterlee celebrates its fiftieth anniversary. Since its official founding in 1972, the Centre—named after the Belgian graphic artist, wood engraver, painter, draughtsman, and pacifist Frans Masereel—has developed into one of the most challenging and inspiring environments for artists and curators to explore printmaking and printed matter at large.

Based on extensive archival research, "Diepdruk – Vlakdruk – Hoogdruk – Doordruk" presents a rich historical portrait of this internationally renowned residency and exhibition space in Kasterlee. In six chapters covering six decades, the reader is guided through the history of the Centre, intentionally highlighting the tension between the density of a chronological structure and the selective discussion of events and key figures. The book begins in 1962, the year Turnhout native Fons Mertens began collecting printing presses, which would later form the technical foundation of the Frans Masereel Centre. Through richly illustrated contributions, the book delves into the Centre’s architecture, the cultural-political context in which it operated, and the artist’s books it has published. It also includes interviews with former staff members and artists-in-residence. Each decade concludes with a selection of graphic works produced at the Centre, as well as a detailed chronology of events, exhibitions, and milestones.

Diepdruk – Vlakdruk – Hoogdruk -Doordruk proposes an art history of a contemporary art institution not as a curated list of highlights and moments of glory, but as a sequence of overlapping events and occurrences—a dense chain of actions and decisions.

Published on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the Frans Masereel Centre on October 15, 2022. Compiled by the research group KB45 (Art in Belgium since 1945), Ghent University.

With contributions by the Belgian Institute of Graphic Design (Leroy Meyer & Pia Jacques de Dixmude), Camille Bladt, Laura Bovsòvers-Carette, Koen Brams, Wouter Davidts, Aurelie Daems, Stijn Maes, Kaat Obbels, Gertjan Oskar, Anton Pereira Rodriguez, Henk Roose, Paula Rodriguez-Sardiñas, Louise Vanhee, Nikolaas Verstraeten, Stefaan Vervoort

Graphic design: Studio MAST & Studio DIER

More info: https://hannibalbooks.be/diepdruk-vlakdruk-hoogdruk-doordruk