[Reader-list] Heritage Signage Disappearing

[Shuddhabrata Sengupta]

Dear Vishal,

Many thanks for your posting on disappearing signage. As an avowed fan
of typographic curiosities I have long been an admirer of your efforts
to document the typographic diversity of Bombay.

I share your concern about the disappearance of signage, because of the
ham handed ways in which 'heritage' is interpreted by municipal
authorities. Perhaps one thing that could be done is a small travelling
exhibition based on your work in colleges, and other arts institutions
in Bombay. And with your documentation, it should not be impossible to
convince some of the Bombay papers, say DNA or Mid Day, or even Time Out
Mumbai to publish some articles on the subject. Then maybe, the
'heritage' lobby itself may be persuaded to step in and realize that the
typographic history of Bombay is as much a part of 'heritage' as
anything else. I am sure that there are some people from DNA and Mid Day
on this list.

Perhaps they could come out and take this forward. I thought I would
post in reply to your post because typography is somthing that I feel
really strongly about,

I hope that other people come up with other suggestions,

best

Shuddha


> Friends,
> 
> In 2002 the Typocity project (www.typocity.com) was initiated to document
> typefaces and signage styles in public spaces of Bombay. Since then, many of
> the old signs that we documented are slowly vanishing. However, I was most
> distressed to find that some of this heritage is being destroyed by the
> municipal corporation itself in the name of protecting and
> restoring heritage structures. Nothing can be more absurd.
> 
> Please follow this link to see the pictures of replaced signs and find out
> more: http://bombay-arts.com/signs_gone/  Do excuse the quality of some of
> the recent pictures as they were taken on the spur with a phone-camera. If
> anyone has better pictures of the recently replaced Eastern Watch sign
> please share it with me.
> 
> I am desperately looking for suggestions and ideas to counter this lack of
> sensitivity by the municipal corporation. I shall be very grateful for any
> help.
> 
> 
> Best,
> Vishal
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