Gutenberg finds a happy home
A huge 2.6m by 1.1m copper embossed plaque hanging in the foyer of Stan Halkeas’s former well-known Sydney printing company, Halkeas Printing, finds a new home.
Halkeas Printing founder, Stan Halkeas commissioned a Greek artist/sculptor friend to produce the wall plaque over 25 years ago. “Chris Kranidis created a highly detailed depiction of the first use-age of moveable-type – faithfully captured in beaten copper.”
Commemorating the father of modern printing, Johannes Gutenberg, the wall plaque features the first printing workshop in all its glorious detail, including Gutenberg himself at work.
“It reminds us of the origins of printing, and of how far we have come. The industry has progressed from hand-carved wood blocks to engraved metal, and now it moves to digital with computers,” Halkeas said.
For almost 500 years Gutenberg’s invention of the movable type printing press was used without important changes. It wasn’t until only about 100 years ago that alternate processes, such as offset, were developed.
Industry veteran James Cryer was proud to play a role in securing the future of the plaque for the PIAA, and believes the piece is important as it depicts an important milestone in the industry’s history.
“As an industry, we’re very quick to discard old methodologies, which is understandable in the modern headlong rush to innovate. However, it does us good to be reminded of the giants on whose shoulders we now stand. This plaque is a visual reminder of our heritage and our origins,” Cryer said. “I was delighted that Stan agreed to make this gesture.”
Pictured: James Cryer (left) standing in front of the Gutenberg plaque with Stan Halkeas.
Bill Healey, CEO of Printing Industries says the copper mural would be a unique and invaluable addition to the Association’s historic collection. “We are indebted to Stan Halkeas who commissioned the work a great many years ago and has now seen fit to entrust it to our care.
“We currently have one of the few existing facsimile copies of the ‘Most Prestigious Book in The World’ - the two-volume Gutenberg Bible – on permanent display at our Auburn head office entrusted to us by another iconic industry family – the Alberts family who owned Standard Publishing House.
“The generosity of the Halkeas family in contributing this Gutenberg pressroom mural will help put into context the environment in which Johannes Gutenberg worked to create the revolutionary moveable type technology that began the educational reformation, a technology which is still benefitting the world today.”
Healey says the mural would be on permanent display joining other unique exhibits including original pages from the Nuremberg Chronicle of 1493 and one-of-five limited edition reproductions of the documents officially recorded as the first press printed documents produced in Australia.
“While we have a very important role ahead of us in working to help reposition the printing industry to best take advantage of current technological change, we can’t lose sight of our roots, the history of our industry and its innovations which are as revolutionary and challenging today as they more than 600 years ago in Gutenberg’s time,” he said.
