The Lightboxes and Lettering: More Follows exhibition was made possible thanks to a £58,200 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
The first part of the project will be a ‘work in progress’ exhibition at Space gallery in Mare Street, Hackney, which will focus on the experiences and history of print workers and businesses across Hackney, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest and associated areas.
The free exhibition will run from 7 to 19 December. However, on Saturday 8 December the organiser, Rendezvous Projects, has issued an open invitation to anyone who worked in the print and allied trades in east London to drop in for a festive get-together between 2pm and 6pm.
Rendezvous Projects lead artist Lucy Harrison said she hoped “the day will see old friends and colleagues re-connecting, as well as further interesting stories and materials for our archive”.
As well as collecting images from the pre-1995 era, the organisers have also interviewed a number of local print workers and gathered an archive of oral histories.
“Printing in the area hadn’t been documented properly in a comprehensive way,” said Harrison.
The final outcome of the project will be exhibited in January 2020 at the Nunnery Gallery in Bow.
Harrison added that print represents a “rich part of east London’s industrial history” and it was important to organise such an event now to draw on the experiences of people who worked during the pre-digital era before they are “lost to retirement".
The exhibition is aimed at everyone with an interest in print, design or local and social history, but Rendezvous Projects also hopes to collect images, memories and printed matter related to the print trade prior to 1995.
The organisation is looking to talk to anyone who has worked in the industry or had experience as a customer in a related industry – such as print supplies, paper or print finishing.
Harrison said: “The technology of print, design aspects and the finished products all provide a fascinating insight into the evolution of the print industry in the area, from closed-shop union print-works to radical presses and commercial, artists’ or community print shops. It has been a fascinating project to work on and we look forward to meeting more print workers during the show.”
The exhibition runs 10am to 5pm, Monday to Friday from the 7 to 19 December at Space, 129-131 Mare Street, London E8 3RH.
For more information, www.lightboxeslettering.com
