'Japanophiles'
(2010) NHK again! Their overseas arm - NHK World - asked me to appear in a pilot program for a new series they were planning, to be called Japanophiles. (No bonus points for guessing what the series was going to be about!) Host Peter Barakan and I spent a very enjoyable time in their studio putting it all together, and the result turned out to be one of the best overviews of my work made to date. And it's entirely in English ...
(After watching the program, if you would like to post some feedback with your comments, you may do so on this page of the Woodblock RoundTable.)
TV Listings
The 'Woodblock Shimbun' has a full selection of TV programs on file. Videos available include some of David's news appearances, complete feature programs, and some short documentaries on his work. The files are in QuickTime format, and can be easily viewed with your browser.
Program listings are on the Index page ... 
A Traditional Woodblock Printer
Surrounded by carving tools, brushes and bowls of
pigment, he spends hours absorbed in the exacting work that has
become both a passion and a ten-year project. A Canadian who moved to Tokyo in 1986, David Bull
has made an extensive effort to learn and practice woodblock
printmaking as it was mastered in Edo-era Japan. He is currently
producing a series of woodblock prints using designs by the famous
Ukiyo-e artist Katsukawa Shunsho. The theme is the 100 poets of old
Japan (Hyakunin Isshu) and in four years he has completed 40 of them.
He expects to finish the collection in 1998. (1992)
Full Story.
Traditional Craft, Crisis or ... ?
As a worker in the field of traditional Japanese crafts, one of the most common things I hear from visitors to my workshop is, "Isn't it a pity that wonderful crafts like this are dying out nowadays." We sometimes tend to view traditional crafts as being superior to modern ways of doing things, but I have to wonder about this. I am sure that the craftsmen of old did not view their work in special terms. I think that they were simply people 'doing a job'. (1994)
Full Story.
Woodblock Man Carves Niche
Woodblock carver David Bull refuses to be called an 'artist' or 'sensei'. "I'm just the guy who carves a piece of wood," Bull said. "All I do is copy what the real artists did." Since 1989, the Canadian university dropout who once played the flute on the streets of London has spent many hours bent over his woodblocks, nose and beard almost touching the surface, as he carved toward a self-appointed goal: the recreation of 18th century ukiyo-e artist Katsukawa Shunsho's 'Hyakunin Isshu: Poems from One Hundred Poets' series. (1999)
Full Story.
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