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0000017c-60f7-de77-ad7e-f3f739cf0000Arts & More airs Fridays at 7:50 a.m. and 4:20 p.m.Theme music: "Like A Beginner Again" by Dan Barry of Seas of Jupiter

Venice and the Art of Books

Venice is the fabled city of canals and piazzas on the Adriatic that looms large in the dreams of artists, writers, and millions of tourists. But Venice is also a major destination for those interested in typography, printing, and the art of making physical books. Some students from Kalamazoo went there this summer to find out more about that aspect of the city's history and they've created a new exhibition inspired by the trip.

Johannes Gutenberg famously brought printing with moveable type to Europe in the fifteenth century. But Kalamazoo Book Arts Center Director Jeff Abshear, who's also an adjunct professor at Western Michigan University, says it was entrepreneurs in Venice who who used Gutenberg’s invention to turn their city-state into the world’s first mass media hub.

"After Gutenberg invented the press, Venice became a center because it was an early republic, so they had a lot of freedom in what they could print," Abshear says. "It was also a very rich and powerful city, so they had the resources because there was a lot of trade with East and West to make books." He says it also didn't hurt that there was a ready market for all those new books: students at nearby universities in Padua and Bologna.

Credit Kalamazoo Book Arts Center
Exhibition poster

This summer, Abshear took two groups of students to Venice and other parts of Italy to explore all of the printing and graphic arts history. Western Michigan University student Andrea Hoffman was one of 11 who went to see some of the world’s first printed books. She says that experience she says was “incredible."

"When you set things by hand you really think about every decision you're making a lot more thoughtfully than you would on the computer. And I think it kind of is more personal, and I think you, a lot of times, come up with a better product."

While they were in Venice, Hoffman and the other students got an opportunity to use vintage presses and other equipment including nineteenth-century machines. Jeff Abshear says the group used them to design and create some posters inspired by their visit. One celebrates the city of Florence. "They used large wooden type. And they used the type not only to create words. They also used the type to create part of the features of the buildings, including the windows and doors."

A second group of nine students from Kalamazoo toured several Italian cultural centers, including Florence and Rome as well as Venice. Western student Ellen Vandermyde says that experience allowed her to experiment with unusual photographic techniques and create a series of dry-point etchings." There were some challenges, though. "We had to work on these and turn them in after our trip to Assisi, she says. "But we didn't really have to work on them in Assisi, so I made it on a train. And the lady sitting across from me on the train was very impressed."

Work by Book Arts Center students during their time in Italy is on display during the Center’s month-long “Book Arts in Venice and the Italian Journey” exhibition. It also includes copies of a special book they created. Abshear says it's called Impressioni, the Italian word for "impressions."

He says that's because, "This is their impressions of Italy, but also because the type makes an actual impression on the page, so there's a pun there."

The “Book Arts in Venice and the Italian Journey” exhibition at the Kalamazoo Book Arts Center opens during Art Hop on Friday, September 11. It will be on display at the Kalamazoo Book Arts Center in the Park Trades Center on Kalamazoo Avenue through September 25th.

Andy Robins has been WMUK's News Director since 1998 and a broadcast journalist for over 24 years. He joined WMUK's staff in 1985. Under his direction, WMUK has received numerous awards for news reporting.