For the Love of Typewriters – Olivetti Exhibit Preview

I’ve got something good for you today.

To celebrate 110 years of a true Italian icon, Rome’s National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art is hosting an exhibit in honor of Olivetti—Italy’s premier typewriter manufacturer. Tracing a history of design, graphics, technological innovation, and communication, Looking Forward. Olivetti: 110 Years of Imagination, opens today, 20 February 2018, and runs until the 1st of May. It showcases more than 300 images, mostly vintage photographs and publicity posters.

I’m pretty sure all writers have a penchant for typewriters, whether or not they use them. There is a certain mystique to a typewriter, not least of all because they have become obsolete in today’s uber-technological world. And although this exhibit is not intended to be a nostalgic homage to the glorious past of the typewriter, but rather a celebration of the industry and innovation of this powerhouse company, I can’t help but look wistfully on these fabulous images and imagine a different version of myself, living half a century earlier, pounding out my manuscript to the gentle whir and clack-clack-clack of one of these gorgeous machines

Whoa that was a long sentence. I clearly got carried away by my mid-century me/typewriter fantasy.

Without further ado, feast your eyes on just a handful of the over 300 images on display: