New Zealand’s only
surviving original Chinese printing types, for use in a traditional printing
press, will be the jewel in the crown of a new Chinese Scholars’ Studio at
Victoria University of Wellington’s Wai-te-ata Press after they were unearthed
from a farmer’s field in Pukekohe.
Victoria and the
Dominion Federation of New Zealand Chinese Commercial Growers unveiled the
Chinese Growers Printing Collection this week (Thursday 15 September) as part
of Chinese Language Week. The event was launched with a lion dance performance
and an introduction by Dr Sydney Shep of Wai-te-ata Press.
At the event the project
between Victoria and the Dominion Federation of New Zealand Chinese Commercial
Growers was officially launched, and the agreement signed. The agreement marks
the formal start of the relationship and the transfer of guardianship of New
Zealand’s only surviving Chinese language printing typeface collection to
Victoria.
The printing collection
holds significant cultural history for the Chinese community and was used by
the Dominion Federation of New Zealand Chinese Commercial Growers to print its
monthly newsletters from 1952-1972. The print collection will now be restored,
revitalised and rehoused at Victoria’s Wai-te-ata Press.
The event also marked
the opening of the new Chinese Scholars’ Studio at Victoria which will provide
an exciting space to showcase unique Chinese New Zealand initiatives in
Wellington and give the Chinese community an opportunity to use the restored
printing types for small print runs.
Dr Sydney Shep of
Wai-te-ata Press says: “Repatriating these unique types back to Wellington and
putting them back into action offers an unprecedented opportunity for Victoria
to help link past with present, language with culture, scholars with
communities, and to catalyst new interest in the complexities of Chinese print
history and its New Zealand stories.”
The Chinese Scholars’
Studio project is supported by donations from the Chan family, the Chinese Poll
Tax Heritage Trust, the New Zealand China Friendship Society and the Dominion
Federation of New Zealand Chinese Commercial Growers. The Chan family have a
long and generous history of giving to Victoria and they have a very personal
connection with the project as their grandfather, Dan Chan, was the first
editor of New Zealand Chinese Growers Monthly.
A display of the
printing types is currently on view at Wai-te-ata Press, Level 0, Rankine Brown
Library, Kelburn, Wellington.
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