On 23 and 24 June, Strasbourg will be playing host to the printing industry. The 4th edition of the Printers’ Festival will be taking place in the Alsatian city this year. This major event in the world of printing is organised by the Espace Européen Gutenberg association.

This association organises the Printers’ Festival every two years in Strasbourg. EEG is also working towards the opening of a Conservatoire & Ateliers de l’imprimerie et des arts graphiques in Strasbourg. The association has become a key player in promoting printing and the graphic arts.

This year’s project is both ambitious and meaningful, as it celebrates the 550th anniversary of Gutenberg’s death. So the printing and book trades will be in the spotlight for a weekend.

A commemorative edition of Gutenberg

The 4th edition of the Printers’ Festival coincides with Gutenberg Year. This is the 550th anniversary of the death of the inventor of printing. The 2018 event will feature six emblematic locations in Strasbourg’s historic quarter. Printing and book professionals will be on hand to present their work and interact with visitors. Old and new trades will be represented. Visitors of all ages will be able to take part in a range of fun and interactive workshops to find out more about these trades. The tour can be either random or chronological.

The six different locations will be the Espace Saint-Michel in Notre-Dame cathedral, the inner courtyard of the workshops of the Fondation de l’Œuvre Notre-Dame, the Musée de l’Œuvre Notre-Dame, the Popartiserie, the Chapel of the Evangelists in Saint-Thomas church, and of course the Place Gutenberg. Gutenberg’s work will be showcased at this event for all to see.

This year’s theme is “Gold and Lead”.

Visitors will be able to discover the different printing trades around the theme of “Gold and Lead”. The Espace Européen Gutenberg association points out that this theme highlights the diversity of the printing professions: “from the design of typefaces and their casting in lead to the ennoblement of books with gold in the form of illumination or gilding of bindings”.

The theme will be illustrated by a number of workshops for visitors. These workshops will cover book illumination, punch engraving, typography, letterpress printing, lead casting, book illumination and graphic design.

Printing an object for this edition

Each year, the Espace Européen Gutenberg association publishes a printed object. For this 2018 edition, the object was designed and produced by two famous designers: Jean Alessandrini and Laurent Bourcellier. They have created a four-hand ABCdaire. This famous ABCdaire consists of 26 sheets, printed on a letterpress. Each sheet represents a letter. The ABCdaire is destined to be personalised as the workshops progress: enlarged, illuminated, engraved, overprinted, bound or gilded… An opportunity to put these different workshops into practice.
There will also be dedicated workshops for children aged 5 and over.

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