The Printing Museum: thirty years young!
A word from John Nixon, president of The Printing Museum, Wellington, New Zealand
The Printing Museum (Wellington, New Zealand) began life over 30 years ago when a group of enthusiasts and professional printers began collecting items of historical and industrial interest. This was at a time when the era of letterpress, the method of printing by mechanical impression that Johannes Gutenberg had perfected in the fifteenth century, was coming to an end. Had it not been for their foresight, many of these wonderful machines – some of which are now listed items of historical interest – would have been lost for ever.
Fast forward thirty years and The Printing Museum has entered a new phase. Despite digital domination, there has been a huge
revival of interest in letterpress, particularly in the United States and Britain. Letterpress Museums and Book Arts Centres have sprung up in major cities around the world. While attracting enthusiasts of all ages, the new wave of letterpress and book arts devotees are often young designers and artists curious of the origins of typography and seeking artistic relief from the ubiquity of flat print.
The combination of working printing museum, book arts centre, community workshop, specialised printery and type foundry will be an asset for Wellington as well as a national and international attraction. It will also be a fitting home for these national taonga – fortuitously collected and painstakingly restored over so many years.
John Nixon, president
For more information:
Full details are to be found in the concept document which describes the five facets of The Printing Museum’s project: the Museum (original collection); the Book Arts Centre (teaching and creating things with the collection); the workshop; the semi-commercial printing facility and publisher (which has three books of First World War poetry in preparation); and the foundry (whose income helps to pay the rent.)
Download the concept document (PDF)
Contacts:
General: info@theprintingmuseum.org.nz
Foundry: foundry@theprintingmuseum.org.nz