Association of European Printing Museums: Annual conference in Offenbach in May 2023

The annual meeting and specialist conference of the AEPM (Association of European Printing Museums) focuses attention on the art and technical history of printing text and images. The honor of hosting this gathering of experts from museums, printers and collectors fell to the Klingspor Museum and the Haus der Stadtgeschichte in Offenbach am Main in 2023 (Whitsun). The conference highlighted the critical situation of the dissolution of the most important collections in the field of typefounding, printing and bookbinding, which is a recurring threat everywhere. It was emphasized how attentive the members of the AEPM must be, how active they must be in order to sound out in every situation how the preservation of collection items in the centrally important technology of communication can be made possible.
50 participants took advantage of the offers made by the two museums to get to know the contents of their collections; and a lively exchange characterized the 3 days of being together. Offenbach was praised for its enthusiasm in promoting the concerns of the AEPM. This was also clearly expressed in the introductory words of the Mayor of Offenbach, Dr. Felix Schwenke. Thanks also go to manroland sheetfed: the conference began in front of an immense machine from the printing press manufacturer. The two colleagues from Kiev, who illustrated the threatening situation of Ukraine's national book museum, also played an important role.