By Muhsin Cabdi
A new project has come to the Leicester Print Workshop, involving the reconstruction of a historic piece of equipment.
The New Custodian is a project that began on Tuesday February 12.
The project involves the restoration of a Columbian printing press, a kind that had traditionally been used in the Victorian era.
It will be undertaken by several members of the Leicester Print Workshop, including Theo Miller, a member of the studio team at the Leicester Print Workshop.
Theo Miller is an artist who graduated in Fine Art from De Montfort University in 2014 and then went north for work.
After two years working in the North, Theo returned to Leicester for a residency at the Leicester Print Workshop, before joining the team as a studio member.
He has been at the Leicester Print Workshop for the last two years and is now very eager about the New Custodian Project, which he will be working on alongside young people from The Y Leicester.
The project which,
An image of the Columbian printing press that is being restoredbegan on Tuesday February 12, will involve the restoration of a Columbian printing press, used traditionally to print newspapers and pamphlets.
The press was donated to the Leicester Print Workshop by the Abbey Pumping Station Museum.
Theo said: “They donated it to us in bits and it was on pallets so it was all in bits and we all wanted to put it back together and make it work again.”
Theo managed to successfully secure funding for the project from the Y Heritage Project of the Y Charity in Leicester.
Theo said: “I’ll be working with a resident from the Y and also supported by the Printing Charity and the Heritage Lottery Fund.”
The Printing Charity is a charity based in London with a focus on welfare education and heritage.
Theo said: “The thing I love about print making is the broad possibilities.
“There’s loads of processes that you can use, letter-press for example.
“The reason I really like letter-press is because it is a traditional technique, so it’s got a history and a heritage to it but it can also be used in a contemporary context.
“So letter press doesn’t have to be making facsimile objects, it can be used in a contemporary context and that’s what I like challenging.”
Last year, Theo Miller worked with the Centre for Visual Arts Network East Midlands on a project called “In another place.”
Theo’s work for that project was put on a billboard in the ASDA car park in Oadby.
The New Custodian will be on display in Gallery 2 of the Leicester Print Workshop until May 4.
Anyone interested in learning more about the project should visit the website at http://www.leicesterprintworkshop.com/exhibitions-and-projects/exhibitions/the_new_custodian/.
