hA! After a break of 2 years because of 'you-know-what' the Ghent Festivities (Gentse Feesten) were back in the city. Since their origin in 1843, the Ghent Festivities have developed into one of the largest cultural festivals in Europe. This ten days festival is both an urban festival, a cultural event and a large-scale popular feast.
And the Museum of Industry wouldn't be the Museum of Industry without demonstrations of printing presses and typecasting equipment! Which took place on Tuesday 19 and Thursday 21st of July. During these days, posters and postcards, inspired on the theme of the Ghent Festivities, were printed at the museum and handed it out to visitors free of charge. Well, if you have missed your chance because you were on holidays or maybe partying too hard, don't worry! On the 1st of September during Late Donderdag the posters and cards will be reprinted, so come over to the museum to witness the printing, to chat with the printers and get your copy. The museum will be open till 22 o'clock. See you there!
Meanwhile, a few pictures of the 'making of'. Both works have been typeset by your truly using wood and metal type from the rich collection of the museum. While searching for the right size of wood type and the composition I stumbled upon a little engraving of a Town Crier (Belleman). And that was a lovely surprise as the figure of Town Crier is a very recognisable image of the Ghent Festivities and is well known for the people of Ghent in general.
A Town Crier (Belleman) used to announce the news in the city, when there were no newspapers yet. The person was employed to make public announcements or proclamations, usually by shouting in the streets.
Btw, the Belgian Guild of Town Criers (The Orde van de Belleman) was founded in 1984 and is a member of the English "Ancient and Honourable Guild of Town Criers". They are also organising the 'World Town Crier Championships' with 96 town criers participating in the event.
Armed with the texts in the dialect of the city of Ghent, I've typeset two large formes for the poster and two small ones for the postcard. Needless to say how much time were spent for make ready and adjustment before we even got the final print. But by the end of the second day the formes were ready, mistakes fixed, posters were printed and left to dry. The same blue colour was used for the both works as it is one of the colours of the museum so we kept things consistent. Big thanks to the volunteers Arnould Poelman and Jean-Pierre Berth for their time and knowledge.
So don’t forget to jump in the museum on the 1st of September during Late Donderdag to collect your free copy!
p.s. there are still a few copies available after the 1st of September ;)
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