A Creative Journey Through Paper 5-day course | Summer School 13/07 - 17/07

Level: Beginner/ Intermediate, 18+

Tutors: Wan Lin Chang, Yi Chen Li, Luke M Walker

Date: 13 July – 17 July 2026

Time: 10:00 – 17:00

Cost: £656

• Earlybird: 10% discount if booked by 28 February
• 10% discount available for City & Guilds of London Art School undergraduate, postgraduate, and foundation students, alumni, and staff. Contact summerschool@cityandguildsartschool.ac.uk to receive the discount code.

COURSE OVERVIEW

Led by Taiwanese artists Wan Lin Chang and Yi Chen Li, this five-day summer course invites participants into an
immersive exploration of paper as material and language.

Through mapping, foraging, rubbings, watercolour, charcoal, calligraphic stamp-making and bookbinding, participants build a progressive body of practice. Skills are developed through hands-on experimentation and quiet observation. The programme fosters cross-cultural exchange and a deeper sensitivity to mark, surface, and process. Participants conclude with a cohesive portfolio reflecting both technique and personal inquiry.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Rooted in a history that stretches from ancient Egypt to the Eastern Han dynasty in China, paper carries both time and transmission. While its techniques travelled across the Islamic world and into Europe, today it stands at a quiet threshold—between hand and screen, touch and code. This course invites a return to the territories unique to paper, and to its enduring role in cultural expression.

The programme begins with a guided walk along the River Thames led by local artist and CGLAS Fine Art Tutor Luke M. Walker, whose practice centres on walking and the poetic documentation of place. Participants will map their journeys through gathered fragments—objects, sketches, texts, and images—forming the foundations of their studio- based projects.

Taiwanese artists Wan Lin Chang and Yi Chen Li will then lead a sequence of carefully paced workshops in bookbinding, watercolour, calligraphy, mapping, and rubbings. Together, these practices open pathways into the shared languages of art, craft, and design, with paper as both surface and structure.

This course offers a cross-cultural, multidisciplinary framework through which participants explore traditional Taiwanese applied arts within a contemporary art context. From carving and printing ink stamps to specialist bookbinding and painterly mark-making, the programme cultivates both technical skill and conceptual sensitivity—leaving behind a body of work shaped by hand, movement, and exchange.

What’s included: Paper, pencils, pens, charcoal, stamp-making materials, book binding materials.

What’s not included: Students are encouraged to bring along any materials that they would also like to work with during the week.

If you’d like to keep up to date with news about our Summer School courses, please add your details to our Summer School mailing list. If you have any queries, please email us at summerschool@cityandguildsartschool.ac.uk

Any queries? Take a look at our FAQs page and for further help, please contact us at summerschool@cityandguildsartschool.ac.uk