The invention of the printing press greatly facilitated the dissemination of knowledge. The device has also been widely used by artists, including those who were also printmakers, such as Pablo Picasso who would wait with anticipation beside the press to watch his work come out.

Today, print continues to gain importance in the creation and marketing of art.

At the ongoing Guardian International Printmaking Conference in Beijing, printing presses are juxtaposed alongside the work of contemporary print artists, some of who have added to the beauty of print by integrating it with other mediums of art.

The show, which runs until Sunday at the Guardian Art Center in downtown Beijing, showcases the work of a younger generation of artists, as well as classic pieces from art institutions in China and abroad.