14 July to 31 October 2011
Paper City, an exhibition at City Gallery, trawls through the vast archive of 'snail mail' sent to the City of Melbourne since the 1840s. Paper City gives a surprising lesson in graphic design and cultural history in this exhibition of letterheads. Ten thousand letters have been picked over. The result is a hit parade of over 250 letterheads, from proudly polluting factories to Ashton’s Circus right through to The Met. Some images have a timeless appeal – others really belong in the time they were created.
Curated by Christine Eid, Stephen Banham and Andrew May.
Andrew May is an urban historian at The University of Melbourne with an intimate knowledge of the social and cultural history of the city and its archive.
Christine Eid is a Melbourne-based researcher and artist. In addition to running her research and interdisciplinary arts practice TOW, she undertakes curatorial work at the State Library of Victoria.
Stephen Banham is a graphic designer, writer, lecturer and founder of the typographic studio Letterbox. He has a particular interest in the social significance of typography.