The book “170 Anos do Movimento Associativo Gráfico” [170 Years of the Graphic Association Movement] has been launched, the culmination of the IHC-APIGRAF project that began in 2022. The result of multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional teamwork, in which Cláudia Figueiredo and Paulo Catrica from the IHC stand out, the book consists of two volumes: “Os 170 Anos do Movimento Associativo dos Industriais Gráficos” [170 Years of the Graphic Industrialists’ Associative Movement] and “Os Mundos da Indústria Gráfica e Transformadora do Papel” [The Worlds of the Graphic and Paper Manufacturing Industry].

According to APIGRAF, the publication includes “the mapping and contextualisation of the industrialists’ associations in this sector, their modes of action and main players, the structural development from the nineteenth century associations to the current APIGRAF, passing through the associative forms of the First Republic and the guilds of the Estado Novo, as well as framing the main areas of impact of this industry on society”. The aim of the project was “to preserve and disseminate to society as a whole (including the academic world) a memorial that rightly honours all those who, over seventeen decades, have defended and dignified the collective interests of the printing and paper manufacturing sector, giving their time, knowledge and energy to associative activity.”

The launch took place in Braga during APIGRAF’s 2024 Meeting, which marked the 170th anniversary of the printing industry’s associations. At the meeting, Cláudia Figueiredo said that “the book reflects the importance of the printing industry in Portugal, an industry that is omnipresent in our society. I’d like this book to reach the general, non-specialised public, so that people learn about the omnipresence of this industry, which is part of our daily lives, from books to train tickets.”

As this is an APIGRAF edition, not only the content but also the form has been taken care of: several member printing companies were involved in the production of the two books and their box, using various innovative techniques “such as the use of stamping on the silkscreen varnish and the generation of images that will only appear when the varnish reacts to sunlight”, explained Sérgio Albuquerque, from the UV Group. The design, by José Carlos Mendes, accompanies the story that the book tells, from the type of paper used to the illustrations.

Picture: © APIGRAF