Viva Brighton Issue #60 February 2018

DESIGN
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her by Pauline Paucker. Her
story resonated with me. We
face a terrible displacement
of people today. Alongside
this, right-wing ideologies
are resurfacing, so I see her
story as relevant to us, not
only to reassess the contribution
of women in design,
but also because we face
many of the same issues.
“Friedlander is the only
woman of her generation to
have produced a Western
typeface. Elizabeth type
was a terrific success and
it became her calling card
when she fled Germany. It
has an enduring elegance
and has been digitised by
Bauer Type, so is available
for modern use.
“Looking at the laws introduced
by Nazi Germany,
Fascist Italy and the immigration
processes that made
it so difficult for Friedlander
to come to the UK or
emigrate to the US, we see
that she was one of the lucky
ones, she had exceptional
skill and good friends. But
it could so easily have been
different for her.
“I have made a short ‘essay’
film about Friedlander,
describing what is known of
her life, using archive footage
interspersed with landscape,
speculative images and
text, probing the practical
and political life of women
surviving on wit and skill in
mid-twentieth century Europe.
The film forms part of
the exhibition. Much of the
rest is being loaned from the
Friedlander Archive at Cork.
There is a wonderful range
of book-covers, commercial
work, elegant
patterned
papers
and fine
calligraphy.
The work
is simply
lovely.”
Emma Chaplin
Ditchling
Museum of Art
+ Craft, Elizabeth Friedlander
exhibition continues
until 29th April. Tues - Sat,
10.30am-5pm. £6.50/5.50.
ditchlingmuseumartcraft.
org.uk
Elizabeth Friedlander. Page from Friedlander’s design book. Collection of University College Cork. Photography by Sam Moore
Cover paper designs by Elizabeth Friedlander. Collection of Katharine Meynell
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