Dreams of Future Past

A set of modern - yet traditional - woodblock prints from the French design team Atelier Sento.

Back to the Future! (Can we say that?)

Back in 2019, the two young French designers who make up Atelier Sento published a beautiful book of their watercolour sketches and painting: Rêves de Japon (Dreams of Japan). They had previously lived in rural Japan for a time, and had developed an interesting view of the country - a mix of nostalgia for the old-fashioned places they had seen, and a fascination with the ultra-modern aspects of the modern urban environments.

I (Dave) took note of this, let it 'cook' in my mind for a few years, and then approached them with the thought that somewhere in their work was the seed for a series of new woodblock prints. They were positive to this suggestion, and pitched me on the idea of 'nostalgic scenes from a distant future Japan'. We batted it back and forth for a while; they sent sketches; I made suggestions ... and here we are!

Atelier Sento shared these thoughts about the idea: "Since childhood, we’ve always been fascinated by Japan. With its technological advance, its robots and skyscrapers, it felt like the future to us. Years have passed and a sense of nostalgia has layered over that fascination, as if the future we once dreamed of had been lost forever. We’d like to invite you on a journey to a world that will never exist... and yet feels strangely familiar. Are you ready for takeoff?"

The prints are exactly the same dimensions as many of our recent publications: 12.5 x 17 cm (approximately 5 x 7 inches). We hope you will consider joining us on this interesting journey through space and time! [Subscription page]


The Set of Prints ...

Print #1 : 'Takeoff'
Print #2 : 'Galaxy'
Print #3 : 'The Flooded City'
Print #4 : 'Candy Store'
Print #5 : 'Space Ama'
Print #6 : 'Spirit of the Forest'
Print #7 : 'Home'
Print #8 : 'The Colony'
Print #9 : 'Neo Matsushima'
Print #10 : 'In the Bath'
Print #11 : 'Take Away'
Print #12 : 'MekaNeko'
. . .


A note about the washi

Those of you who have followed our 'Adventures in Washi' series on YouTube, know about this next part. The preparation work done over the past few months by papermaker Naho Murata over in Echizen has paid off very well. The test batches of Echizen Hosho paper she made to our specifications, using mulberry fibre we have been storing here at Mokuhankan, turned out far better than we could have imagined.

Peeking into Murata-san's workshop ...

We gave her the go-ahead to make more, and are hugely pleased to announce that this Dreams of Future Past series will be made exclusively on her new paper, giving her new workshop the boost it needs to get firmly up and running.


The Team who made these prints

In one of the short 'episodes' printed in the packaging for these prints, we discussed the embossing that appears on the margins of the prints in this set - showing the names of the craftspeople who made each copy. For reasons of space, we have done this embossing in Japanese, and that of course means it is unreadable for many of the collectors and viewers of our work.

Here is a list of the people who have been part of this series, in both Japanese and English, allowing you to figure out who made your prints!


Storage/Display

"How do I store my prints? How can I display them? Do I need to buy frames?" are some of the questions we receive about our subscription print sets, and after much experimentation and research, we have the answer to all those questions in one neat package - our combination storage/display box.

Desk set ...

The box is an optional purchase - typically ordered together with the first print in the set, but also available later as an 'add-on' option. Each box has room for the complete set of 12 prints in this series, and incorporates a display stand with acrylic dustcover. Rotate the prints frequently (and don't place it where direct sunlight will fall on the print surface), and you have the perfect solution for both long-term storage, and daily enjoyment of your collection! Here is a page with more photos and complete information.



We hope you will consider collecting this interesting set of prints!