A new exhibition has run in Shipley-based design studio, Split, and is continuing until the end of the month
The People Powered Press (PPP), a non-profit established in the wake of the pandemic through the “These Northern Types” project, is running a new exhibition in Salts Mill, Shipley.
Recognised by Guinness as the largest letterpress printing press of its kind in the world, the initiative works with community groups, printers, artists, and writers to create large-scale letterpress works from its workshop in Salts Works.
The exhibition has been opened by Shipley-based design studio, Split, which helped form the PPP, which it is continuing to work with on projects such as this.
Works featured include collaborations from community groups from across Bradford and beyond who have worked with the PPP’s poet in residence, Anthony Dunn. Groups include Shipley & Saltaire Men’s Shed, People Poetry (Space2, Leeds), and Queer Saltaire.
The exhibition is open from 11.00am to 4.00pm every weekend in May and showcases “the Brico system” which has been used to create all the works and was designed for the press by Oli Bentley.
Also exhibited is the very first A-Z of Brico letters created by Split in collaboration with Anthony Burrill and Thomas Mayo. Spanning nearly 40 metres, this is the first time the A-Z has been exhibited in public, five years after it was initially created and started the PPP on its journey.
Organising company, Split, comments: “The PPP exists thanks to the support and hard work of many. Thanks go to the Saltaire Inspired and Salts Mill teams for hosting this exhibition as part of the 2024 Saltaire Arts Trail, and to Bradford Council for their ongoing support. Special thanks will always go to Ian Plant and all the team at JK
Oiltools (Batley), who designed and built the press.”
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