Exhibitions

Like tools and substrates of the past, contemporary reproduction techniques shape how language looks. Public signage, rendered via a range of materials and methods, is an insightful window into understanding the many ways in which letterforms may be constructed. From the abstraction and rasterisation required to make mosaics to the play of light and shadow in metal ribbon lettering; and from the distinctive overlaps of glass tubes in neon signs to the three-dimensionality of letters crafted in wood and plaster, each example is a study in how text can be material and occupy space. Material—Culture, a typography exhibition curated to complement a lecture at Script Talk, highlighted this physicality of letterforms.

Street typography is an unspoken part of any city’s visual identity, and Lucknow is no different. The interplay of local tastes, languages and scripts, and techniques showcased by sign-makers provide a new way to experience familiar neighbourhoods. In an urban landscape where digitally-produced signs are prevalent, Lucknow: Letter by Letter was a first-of-its-kind exhibition in the city that celebrated not only the work of local sign-makers, but also the skill and nuance that makes lettering produced by analog methods special. It shines a spotlight on the patterns and peculiarities, motifs and functional attributes that make Lucknow’s street lettering distinctive.

All six issues of the India Street Lettering zines were selected for display in Pulp Society’s show featuring independently-published zines, magazines, books, toys, paperworks and games from India, and praised in a feature about the exhibition in The Morning Standard.

For Indian Institute for Human Settlements’s City Scripts 2024 festival, Pooja put together a collection of photographs from the India Street Lettering archives to respond to the provocation “how does the city speak to you?”, raising questions about language politics, digital v. analog sign-making and its impact on livelihoods, and how material and fabrication techniques used to make signs affect our experience of public spaces. The display also included zines focused on the street lettering in Bangalore’s M.G. Road, and the use of tiles for signage around India.