Monk's work in the Scriptorium

Doing monks' work

In the context of 1000 years of Brabant Monastery Life, Graphic Matters asked residents and visitors of Brabant to perform typical monk work. The interactive installation Scriptorium traveled through the province for three months to collect a thousand manuscripts. The manuscripts form the basis for a new digital font 'Manus Brabantiae', designed exclusively for Straatkrant Sammy.

We rarely think about this

Centuries ago, medieval monks spread knowledge by copying manuscripts in scriptoria. To make texts more readable, they developed handwriting and punctuation marks. They made texts more understandable with illustrations. This 'monk's work' is the cradle of most modern writing forms and illustration. Today, this is the work of graphic designers.

Technical director of the Handpicked lab Samet Yilmaz: "From a passion for this shared history, Graphic Matters, Autobahn and Handpicked lab made the origins and value of (hand) writing experienceable in an interactive installation."