During my time studying the School of Art collections there has been one object which has always captured my attention and constantly enthused me – a small, Japanese, box-shaped object delicately dressed in fine iron inlay by a masterful craftsman (figures 1a-1e). This cabinet, which has never been opened in recent times, has only occasionally been displayed in public exhibitions and seemed too beautiful not to be put in the spotlight. The cabinet has led me to the story of its patron George Powell, as well as to its own cultural history and development, but also onto a bigger story of the influences of a western world opening itself to Japanese art and culture.
‘A’ For Aber Two
At the Margins arises from this collaboration and a long-standing friendship between two printmaking communities: Print Council Aotearoa New Zealand and Aberystwyth Printmakers in Wales. This was fostered by a Strategic Insight Programme award (SIP) to Judy Macklin to develop a bi-national programme of art-science collaboration between Wales and New Zealand. The theme of this exhibition was jointly conceived by Judy Macklin, Kathy Boyle (President of Print Council Aotearoa New Zealand) and Mark Macklin. 
The phrase ‘alternative facts’ is a recent addition to our vocabulary. It has come to prominence in a political climate in which views and actions are shaped more by emotions than by reliable intelligence. Reflecting this shift, Oxford Dictionaries declared ‘post-truth’ to be Word of the Year 2016. And yet, alternative facts are as old as language itself. 
Aberystwyth University School of Art Museum & Galleries 