Kia ora, Bonjour, Welcome
In the new knowledge economy, "book" might be a four-letter word, but it's also an endlessly fascinating and seductive material object to make and study. Hold a page up to the light and read its distinctive signature, sniff the edges for the tell-tale aroma of vinegar, riffle a volume to hear the music of its binding, run your finger down the spine to expose the fake cords, taste the animal glue brushed onto the paper.
Books provide a fascinating window onto the transmission of human knowledge and the complex web of social, cultural, economic and political relationships which produce, consume and preserve them. Contrary to popular belief, the book's longevity is a function of its extraordinary flexibility as a portable knowledge basket over time and across space. And, far from being dead, the book is alive and well, breathing in libraries, in bookshops and on bookshelves, and informing the technical vocabulary, architectural structures and metaphors of the electronic environment.
Wai-te-ata Press is a space to explore books and print in all their myriad forms. As letterpress printer and cultural historian, I relish the unique opportunity to make books as well as study them. As an advocate for collaborative, interdisciplinary and research-led teaching and learning, I want to enthuse and inspire. Join me!
About the Press
Wai-te-ata Press : : Te Whare Tā o Wai-te-ata was founded in 1962 by the late Professor Emeritus D F McKenzie. It boasts one of the finest collections of historic letterpress printing equipment, metal and wood types and industrial realia in the southern hemisphere.
As a teaching laboratory, Wai-te-ata Press is used to explore historic and contemporary information technology and design in the context of undergraduate and postgraduate courses and workshops for media studies, architecture and design, history, English literature, theatre and music students, amongst others. It also provides invaluable experience and internships for publishing students.
As a research centre funded by a range of internal and external grants, staff and students investigate topics in book history and print culture, communication and media theory and material culture studies. Collaborative projects include The Print History Project hosted by the New Zealand Electronic Text Centre.
As a book arts studio, Wai-te-ata Press produces limited edition, fine letterpress and digital publications by contemporary New Zealand writers and artists, including Vincent O'Sullivan, Alistair Te Ariki Campbell, Greg O'Brien and Miria George, and by staff and students from the International Institute of Modern Letters. Although bearing a similar name and founded by Douglas Lilburn shortly after the establishment of Wai-te-ata Press, Waiteata Music Press is now a completely separate entity based at the New Zealand School of Music.
Today, Wai-te-ata Press : : Te Whare Tā o Wai-te-ata is directed by The Printer, Dr Sydney J Shep, Senior Lecturer in Print and Book Culture. She is joined by Publication Assistant, Angelique Tran Van, two Research Assistants, Sam Callaghan and Max Sullivan, and Jamie Norrish, a computer programmer specialising in e-research.