Typography you can touch in the Bauhaus Archive, Berlin
The special exhibition ‘ON‐TYPE: Texts on Typography’ presents milestones in typedesign from more than 100 years
Berlin, 7 May 2013. In the exhibition ‘ON‐TYPE: Texts on Typography’ from 8 May to 5 August 2013,the Bauhaus Archive in Berlin is presenting classics of type design from the twentieth century, suchas Bauhaus and Swiss typography, as well as postmodern standpoints and topical examples. The exhibition gathers together central theories, manifestos and stocktaking accounts on typography in the German‐speaking countries and presents font patterns and typography magazines. The centralfigures involved and debates in the history of typography are also introduced – such as debatesabout legibility, about writing with small initial letters in German, and on the effects of digitization.
‘The exhibition is based on thorough research on typography. The fonts and debates that have beenselected reflect major developments, such as the typographical dispute over the use of blacklettertypefaces (e.g. fraktur) in German in the early twentieth century and typographic experiments at the Bauhaus. In presenting this participatory exhibition, we at the Bauhaus Archive are hoping to openvisitors’ eyes to typography and to pass on to them our enthusiasm for the universe of type,’ says Dr.Annemarie Jaeggi, Director of the Bauhaus Archive.
Valuable originals from the holdings of the Bauhaus Archive and the Gutenberg Museum in Mainz are presented in display cabinets. In a special exhibition room designed as a reading lounge, thereare also numerous items available to read, listen to and look at. There are panels providing leaflets with example fonts and quotations that can be taken away, allowing visitors to compile their ownindividual catalogue. Interactive applications create virtual counterparts to the exhibits. The exhibition is being accompanied by an extensive supporting programme. A 243‐page publication on thetopic, edited by the curators, is available in the museum.
‘ON‐TYPE: Texts on Typography’ is an exhibition by the Gutenberg Museum and Mainz University of Applied Sciences / Designlabor Gutenberg, in the Bauhaus Archive in Berlin.Curators and project management: Prof. Petra Eisele (Mainz University of Applied Sciences), Dr. AnnetteLudwig (Gutenberg Museum, Mainz), Prof. Isabel Naegele (Mainz University of Applied Sciences)
Graphic design: Marcel Häusler
Exhibition architecture: Andreas Kulp, Marcel Häusler, Franziska Haube, Lisa Bader
www.on-type.de
© ON‐TYPE / Gutenberg‐Museum, Mainz 2012
Photos: Lena Giovanazzi
Poster: ON‐TYPE: Texte zur Typografie“Design: Marcel Häusler
