The Eighth edition of the La Joven Estampa 2003 Printing Award was most intense during May 19 to 29, 2003. The biennial competition of Latin American and Caribbean prints for Young Artists up to 35 years old is organized by the Americas House and is the only one of its type in the region. The prestigious jury, composed this time by Alicia Candiani (Argentinean artist and professor), Sandra Ramos (Cuban artist, winner in the 1993 edition), Fernando Gálvez (Mexican critic and curator, director of the Institute of Graphic Arts of Oaxaca), distinguished with honorable mentions the Cuban artists Janette Brossard and Nadiesda Inda, and with mentions Cristóbal Tavera (from Mexico), Andrés Garavelli (from Argentina) and Ernesto Fernández (from Cuba). It also gave a Prize to Jesús Hernández (the Güero ¿Blond-), who thus became the seventh Cuban artist obtaining the maximum recognition of the event, started in 1987. There were 152 submissions from Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Chile, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Venezuela and Cuba. There was a more important presence from Mexico, Argentina and Puerto Rico. From all these only 48 were eligible for the recognitions. Among them there were renown artists such as the Dominican Julio Valdez, the Cuban William Hernández (awarded at the V edition) and the Argentinean Cecilia Mandrile. Diverse poetics, technical procedures and artistic morphologies were represented in the competition exhibition that will be up until September 2003 at the Latin American Gallery of the organizing institution. The focus of the works span from the most anthropological perspective to the most technique oriented. There were lynogravures, xilographies, dry points, serigraphies, photogravures, calcographies, digital prints, and mixed techniques. There were multiple solutions for installations: groups structured completely on the wall, fragments that dialogued with other pieces on the floor, pieces totally displayed on the floor of the exhibition space. Also included was the piece mounted according to the prescriptions of tradition for two dimensional works. Thus the final selection resulted to be panoramic and very balanced. There was tradition and experimentation. As is registered in the award certificate: ¿The jury intended that the selected pieces for this VII edition had an image in which both a maturity in the conceptual proposal, a control of the technique, a strong personal idea and specially, a coherence.¿ As usual, the Award La Joven Estampa had several parallel activities. Among the exhibitions: Frank Ernesto Martínez (winner in the previous edition) opened his personal show titled Technique is technique at the Haydée Santamaría Gallery. Sandra Ramos and Alicia Candiani had another one in the Sala Contemporánea. Under the title Even (Mano a mano) Mexican printers Francisco Castro and Mauricio Cervantes opened their show at the Sala Manuel Galich (along with the previous ones, they are exhibiting spaces that belong to the Americas House). According to the program and following the work of these two artists the Mexican Fernando Gálvez gave the conference A Close Encounter with Graphic Beings in the Beginning of the Millenium in the National Museum of Fine Arts. Also in the same place Alicia Candiani gave a talk titled The body and cultural memory. Also there and celebrating its 90th anniversary, Antonio Martorell conducted the workshop Carbon Copies. Several artists from Latin America took part in it, concluding in an exhibition at the Universal Art Building. The Award La Joven Estampa is, to a certain degree, a measurement of the young artists¿ production in the graphic arts in Latin America. It is also good for promoting unity from an undeniable diversity. With a broader understanding in regards to the context of prints within art and with the desire to reach a broader public and stronger geographical outreach, the event is already projecting its next ninth edition.