temporary exhibition

About 200 years ago, the Industrial Revolution started in Britain, ushering in a vital and dynamic era of major transformation driven by an economic boom. In this context, the commercial printing industry underwent significant changes. It began to focus on providing eye-catching, captivating advertising media, especially by developing a wide variety of decorative display typefaces.
Though short-lived, wood type appeared as one of the techniques that supported this industrial trend in the early 19th century. This exhibition presents an introduction to this technique. The display is mainly composed of wood type and playbills (theater programs) published in those days and designed in a fashion inspired by the concept of a rhapsody—a style of music that is episodic yet integrated, with a free-flowing structure.
Having gone through a period of mass production and mass consumption, we are now in an age of uncertainty, prompting many people to rethink the reason or significance for their existence. Against this background, this program aims to provide an opportunity to look back on the times when wood type was playing an active role and feel the atmosphere surrounding technical development, throwing some light on what will be truly essential to the future development of society.