Harmen Liemburg is a graphic designer from Amsterdam specialized on screen printing. He came to Pforzheim University in December 2021 for a one-week workshop with our students and a lecture.

Giving a workshop at a new location is always a bit of an adventure. Will the available screenprinting tools match the workshop goals in the amount of time that is given? From a distance I'm trying to judge what is needed in consultation with the shop's supervisor. 

For Pforzheim, the Erasmus+ funding enabled the school to buy the additional tools and materials needed and just in time: ink, paper, screens mostly. We changed a regular classroom close to the screenprinting shop into a temporary screenprinting factory by moving all mobile tools (drying racks, printing stations, copymachine, lighttable and ventilators) in there. This way, 20 students, 2 assistants an me could start an intensive 4 day production. 

For me it was the first time working with such a large group, and - important to note - printing without vacuum. I'm particulary proud that as a group, despite this restriction, we succeed to maintain a high technical quality throughout the production.

All in all I really enjoyed working at HS Pforzheim: the support of the staff, the pleasant working spirit of the students and the amount of energy generated inbetween. The participants got a taste of what is possible if you focus deeply and enable the element of chance, in other words, serendipity, rule your work. I hope the workshop will inspire many individual printing projects!