Please note that adding a tour to your Sched itinerary does NOT mean you have registered for the tour. You must register using the tours registration link.Cost : $ 25
Currently under development in the heart of UQAM's Central Library, l'
Atelier typographique is a Letterpress Workshop, an emerging space dedicated to the preservation, transmission, and contemporary exploration of typographic and relief printing practices. The workshop is being built around an exceptional donation from the Musée de l’imprimerie du Québec, which entrusted UQAM with the stewardship of its historic printing equipment after years without a permanent home.
This working collection includes a cast-iron hand press, cylinder presses, platen presses, and thousands of wood and metal typefaces, ornaments, and printing plates dating from the late 19th to the mid-20th century. Some of the equipment is currently undergoing restoration, a process that is integral to the project’s pedagogical mission and to the responsible reactivation of these historic tools. Rather than functioning as a static display, the workshop is conceived as an operational environment where historical materials are progressively brought back into use through teaching, research, and creative practice.
Distinctively, the UQAM Letterpress Workshop is a francophone typographic space—a rare presence in the North American academic landscape. It contributes to sustaining the history of French-language printing in North America while positioning the library as a site of cultural continuity and resistance.
Aligned with UQAM’s broader initiative to transform libraries into spaces of experimentation and interdisciplinary dialogue, the workshop already supports pedagogical projects in graphic design, visual arts, literature, book history, arts history and communication.
In an era shaped by speed and dematerialization, the slow, manual processes of letterpress printing offer a form of resistance—inviting reflection, embodied knowledge, and renewed attention to the material conditions of language and culture.
Transportation : transit pass provided.The recommended transportation arrangements are to use public transit as a group from the Hotel (Métro Bonaventure to Métro Berri-UQAM). It's possible to access the library directly from the metro level.
Destination addess : UQAM Central Library,
400 Rue Sainte-Catherine E, Montréal, QC H2L 2C5Important Information:The workshop will be offered in English, however the facilitator also speaks French.
$ All costs are in USD.
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Photo credit: Clémence Lesné
