1 PRINT IN THANET - COVER & BACK COVER & TEXT - FLIPBOOK v26 ZZZ - FAW - Flipbook - Page 11
P
rint in Thanet is a series of largely untold stories about the world class
printing industry and its people, that were once a valuable aspect of
life in Thanet. These stories are told through the words and belongings
of people who worked in print; through images of the machinery and the
buildings they worked in; and the printed materials that were produced and
distributed widely as a result of this industry. Together they evoke many
different voices, provide evidence of lives worked, enjoyed and lived. Many
have become lost or unheard, until now.
This publication is an exploration and an interpretation of an archive of
these different forms of voices. It is part performance, part workbook and
part catalogue. It does not represent all the aspects of the printing industry
nor one view or interpretation. These stories are incomplete and there are
far more to collect, especially as they come from a very small number of
the print businesses that have or continue to trade. Artists as collector/
custodians have gathered or been given the stories, through a creative
B
Introduction
path of enquiry. This is a different approach to others such as historians,
ethnographers, archaeologists or social geographers who may have a
another approach to research and may also interpret the same archive
material in different ways.
The stories are presented as found and understood now. They are told
through fragments of print found in junk shops, and discarded objects on
the floors of disused buildings or in people’s attics and through the words
and recollections of past print workers. They tell of times when codes
of behaviour, ways of living and working, respect and the value of skilled
