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Visual merger of the Rehearsing Hospitalities identity with Editorial tables: Reciprocal Hospitalities

A collaboration in the fifth and final year of the Rehearsing Hospitalities programme was between Frame Finland, The Showroom (London)  and the Finnish Institute in the UK and Ireland. As stated by the curators Yvonne Billimore, Jussi Koitela and Lily Hall, Editorial Tables: Reciprocal Hospitalities “celebrates the production and dissemination of knowledge through the act of experimental and artist-led publishing, with a focus on intersecting feminist and decolonial perspectives.” 

I was commissioned by The Showroom in London to design a poster and a visual language that was significantly new and representative of the exhibition's thematics while establishing a connection with the previous editions of the Rehearsing Hospitalities programme. The poster needed to also take into consideration the locality, the physical space and the surrounding visual landscape. 

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To kickstart the identity design process, crucial insights emerged from the initial interview with the curators. The focus was on feminist practices, modes of thinking around decolonisation, anti-racist practice, and the intersection of art, design, and independent publishing. It was a response to commonalities found between practices in different locations, focusing on creating a reciprocal relationship.

The visual identity highlights the collaborative nature, the cross-currents between practices, and the idea of the exhibition as a lively, interactive space. It also takes into account the local context and audiences, reflecting the neighbourhood's diversity and the distinct visual presence, which stands out in the neighbourhood. 

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The typographic idea was based in hand-tracing fonts. This was meant to highlight the processual, personal, and political nature of publishing practices. 

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Thinking with the idea of a ‘public announcement’, a scroll was selected as an icon that symbolised the ‘publicness’ of publishing, an idea which emerged from the notion of “publishing as in making something public.”, put forth by the curators in the initial curatorial statement. 

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