La Ceiba Gráfica

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The Ceiba Gráfica is an artistic center dedicated to the traditional printmaking techniques and created in 2005 by a group of artists led by Per Anderson and Martín Vinaver.

Located in a reformed XVIth century hacienda of Coatepec, state of Veracruz, the center develops numerous activities of teaching, production, investigation, and dissemination of the graphic arts. 

« La Ceiba Gráfica is a great utopia but it ensures that artists have access to materials such as stone, presses, inks, and paper. It is a place where lithography and other engraving techniques can always be done, where materials are not an impediment but are always available, » explains Per Anderson, founder of the project.

Indeed, with the development of very specific technologies over the years, the center has become auto-sufficient for the production of all the needed items for graphic arts, using solely locally-sourced materials: carpenters manufacture the presses and the rollers, the ink is made from the recuperation of soot from local bakeries, the stones are cut from a marble carrier of the region, and the paper is made from cotton fibers of recycled towels from hotels mixed with a plant called Kozo that Per Anderson brought back from Japan and planted around the hacienda.

« So, we think that whatever happens in the world, here we will always be able to continue the production without anyone stopping us! » exclaims Per Anderson.

With several residency programs and different lengths of stay, artists can choose to work on their own projects if they are experienced in the use of the different materials and machines, or exchange daily hours of work for their stay, or do a learning residency in the different workshops existing in the Ceiba Gráfica: lithography, engraving on wood or linoleum, metal engraving, ink workshop, carpentry, papermaker studio, bookbinding workshops, mobile type workshop, and the traditional Oriental technique of Moku Hanga. There is another program for co-editions that works only by invitation. The last program is available for non-professional of the graphic arts and directed towards photographers, illustrators, writers…

With up to 15 artists at the same time in shared or private rooms, the residency is a melting pot of nationalities and disciplines that enrich each of its participants.

« It is an inclusive space, where all kinds of people come from all over. So, we take care of sharing the knowledge we have in each of the areas, {…} La Ceiba, I think, is a place of reference for graphic arts at the national level and now, with the experience I have had, I believe even internationally, because it is one of the best for graphic arts in Mexico, » confides Tania Nery González, printmaking Master at the Ceiba Gráfica.