Original woodcut and print (392 x 318 mm)
© Industriemuseum Gent

It is that time of year again, time for Ghent Festivities (Gentse Feesten), one of the largest cultural festivals in Europe - ten days of fun, which kicks off on the 19th of July.

Designing and printing a poster for this occasion is an old tradition at the Museum of Industry and this year was no exception. In the past years, the posters I've designed were purely typographic, typeset from wood and metal type available in the museum collection. But this year we thought to link it to an historical object from the museum's collection. A woodcut with 24 images of “The farmer's fair” (De Boere-kermis) activities, accompanied by quirky texts in (old) Dutch. A popular theme of the so-called 'penny prints' (centsprenten) provides a vivid insight into fair life in the 18th-19th century. The original woodcut, from the Vander Haeghen printing house, ca. 1860, is currently on display in the permanent exhibition of the printing department on the 4th floor of the museum.

When designing the poster we respected the original size of the woodcut, but we didn't dare to print from the original woodcut as it is quite fragile, so we decided to make a photopolymer plate. While Jean-Pierre Berth was busy adjusting the packing on the Heidelberg KSBA to print the first colour, and Stefaan casted a couple of lines of text on Intertype, I kept myself busy choosing the wood type and running a few proof prints to define the composition. Once satisfied with the composition and the colour combination I locked up two formes for KSBA so Jean-Pierre could start printing.

The limited edition posters will be available at the museum shop during the Ghent Festivities (19 - 28.07). There will be workshops and demonstrations from 20 to 28 July, from 14 o'clock. See you at the museum!

Museum of Industry
Minnemeers 10
9000 Ghent
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