Activating Heritage Through Printmaking and Public Engagement
Before the clang of steel and the hiss of steam, this land was, and still is, Country. The ground beneath our feet belongs to the Jagera, Yuggera, and Ugarapul peoples of the Yugara language group. Ipswich, known as Tulmur in Yugara, has been a place of care and connection for countless generations. We acknowledge this enduring relationship and pay respect to First Nations communities past, present and emerging.
Then came change. In the 1860s, Queensland’s colonial government saw rail as the key to opening up the inland. On 31 July 1865, the first railway line steamed west from Ipswich to Bigge’s Camp (now Grandchester). Ipswich was chosen for its river port and growing town, and with that choice came the need for a rail workshop.
By 1864, the first sheds stood about a kilometre from where we are today. Some were shipped from England, prefabricated and ready to assemble. Inside those sheds, crews pieced together locomotives sent in parts from Glasgow. By 1877, Ipswich workers had built Queensland’s first home-grown locomotive from spare parts, a sign of the innovation that would define this site for generations.
Behind the fence, a world was taking shape. A world of steam, steel, and skill. Over time, the Ipswich Railway Workshops grew into one of Queensland’s largest industrial workplaces. At its peak, more than 3,000 people worked here every day. They built locomotives, carriages, and wagons that kept the state moving. They forged iron, shaped timber, and painted the bold insignia that marked Queensland Rail’s identity. This was a place of craftsmanship and community, a self-contained city humming with energy.
Today, the Queensland Museum Rail Workshops (QMRW), keeps that story alive. The towering brick halls, the overhead cranes, the worn workbenches, they all whisper of the hands that built a state. And now, those echoes of industry have inspired a new chapter.
Moveable Type Studio Rolls In
It didn’t arrive with whistles or fanfare, just the steady rumble of a container truck rolling through the gates. Inside that 40-foot box was Moveable Type Studio (MTS), our travelling print workshop built to spark curiosity and get hands dirty. For six weeks, MTS sat nestled among the towering brick halls of the Queensland Museum Rail Workshops, humming with creative energy. Visitors wandered in, drawn by the scent of ink and the clack of setting type, and found themselves part of something rare: a space where history wasn’t just displayed, it was reactivated, one print at a time.
Our residency began with a deep dive into the museum’s collection. From bold union posters to delicate Edmondson railway tickets, we uncovered artefacts that spoke volumes about Queensland’s industrial past. These discoveries inspired hands-on projects: reimagining historic designs as contemporary relief plates, and printing them anew for today’s audiences. Each piece became a bridge between eras, a conversation in ink and paper.
Public Engagement Highlights
Our residency wasn’t just about setting up a studio, it was about opening doors. Each activation invited people to get closer to the story of the heritage site and experience creativity in motion. Here’s how those moments unfolded.
Live Printing Demos
We started with the basics’ ink, type, and a press. No screens, no shortcuts. Each demo was different. Some days, it was quiet with just a few curious visitors leaning in, asking questions, watching the process unfold. Other days, the place buzzed. Car clubs rolled in, families wandered through, and suddenly the studio was full of chatter, ink, and shared stories.
People didn’t just watch, they participated. For many, it was their first time touching the tools of communication that once shaped Queensland’s industrial voice.
First Nations Storytelling Through Language
For two days, the studio shifted pace. The presses kept rolling, but the focus turned to language; how it’s shaped, how it’s shared, and how it holds memory.
Gordon Hookey joined Clint Harvey at the bench. A Waanyi man from Cloncurry, Queensland, with Chinese and Javanese ancestry, Gordon’s practice is grounded in a divergent, activist perspective. His work sits at the intersection of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal cultures, challenging dominant hierarchies and amplifying marginalised voices. Known for his bold, hand-drawn letterforms and acrostic wordplay, Gordon brings language to life, not just as text, but as commentary, as resistance, as story.
In the hands of Gordon Hookey, language is never just text; it’s a tool, a challenge, a conversation. His hand-drawn letters carry weight: shaped by lived experience, sharpened by humour, and grounded in a practice that speaks back to power. For this workshop, those letters became something new. Digitised and laser-cut into timber ahead of the session, they formed a custom typeface; not a font in the conventional sense, but a set of marks built for meaning.
When participants arrived, the blocks were ready; but the real work began in conversation. Around the bench, people spoke about words that mattered to them: names, places, phrases that held memory or meaning. With Clint Harvey facilitating and Gordon’s letterforms as a starting point, the studio became a space for reflection and response. Participants composed prints that layered personal stories with cultural references, shaping each piece through dialogue and making.
The result was more than a set of prints; it was a shared process, tactile, thoughtful, and grounded in the layered heritage of the Workshops site. Each impression carried the rhythm of language and the weight of lived experience, pressed into paper one word at a time.
Type Tasting at the Queensland Museum Railway Workshops
Deep into the Moveable Type Studio residency at the Queensland Museum Railway Workshops, we activated a public engagement session called Type Tasting.
This session brought together eleven participants at the MTS container, inviting them to experience a hands-on introduction to letterpress printing. Using contemporary laser-engraved plates depicting a steam locomotive drawn from the museum’s archives, participants were able to print a modern interpretation of historical imagery. These new plates offered a contemporary lens through which to explore heritage, bridging the precision of digital design with the tactile rhythm of traditional printing.
Alongside the laser-engraved plates, participants also worked with nineteenth-century wood type from the MTS collection. They learned to lock up type, ink rollers, and print combinations that merged old and new technologies, combining the bold personality of wood type with the fine detail of laser engraving.
This session encouraged people to slow down, engage in conversation, and connect with both the physical process and each other. For many, it was their first time handling historic printing tools and understanding the labour and craft behind each impression. Participants left with a tangible reminder of their time, a unique print that carried both the story of the Railway Workshops and the enduring art of letterpress.
Introduction to Letterpress
By the time the “Introduction to Letterpress” session kicked off, Moveable Type Studio had been parked at the Queensland Museum Rail Workshops for a couple of weeks now. It had settled into the site like it belonged there, a container of wood and metal type nestled among steel beams and locomotive bones.
Seven participants arrived that day, stepping into a space already steeped in history and making. The session unfolded slowly. Clint Harvey welcomed each person into the process, setting type, mixing ink, locking up chases. Around them, the Workshops whispered reminders of what this place once was: a hub of industry, of invention, of labour.
At the centre of the session was the C18 locomotive No.692, not in the container studio, but present all the same. Built in Ipswich in 1914, its silhouette had been drawn from QMRW photograph collection and laser-engraved into timber plates ahead of the workshop. Participants inked the image, pressed it into paper, and paired it with bold, handset wood type spelling out “Get on Board.” The phrase felt apt, a call to engage, to connect, to keep things moving.
Teacher PD Evening
Our connection to education was just as important. Educators stepped into the Queensland Museum Rail Workshops for a free, hands-on session linking printmaking to curriculum outcomes. Feedback from Lynette Shanahan, Head of Creative Arts at All Hallows’ School, captured the impact:
“I was impressed by the high level of visual samples and the practical experience of using your amazing printing presses… Keeping Queensland Art Teachers Association QATA in the loop may be useful, as art teachers are always interested in new ideas and community participation.”
Schools Program – Exquisite Monsters
Finally, we took creativity back to the classroom. Our pilot schools program brought together Redbank Plains State School, IPSAI Arts Collective, and artist Ally Boots for a collaborative design challenge. Using the exquisite corpse method, students created a steampunk-inspired monster: Redbank Plains designed the head as a mechanical panther (their school mascot), IPSARI crafted the body, and Ally Boots completed the feet.
Final Week of Residency: Galvanised Festival
As our residency drew to a close, we were delighted to anchor the grand finale of our program within the annual Galvanized heritage festival. Galvanized is the City of Ipswich’s festival of heritage, showcasing “the best heritage experiences and events Ipswich has to offer” across ten days.
Kicking off the weekend, we hosted a ticketed two‑hour “Ink & Drink” session at the MTS container on the Friday evening. Participants gathered at dusk, beverage in hand, and worked with the same laser‑engraved plates of the steam locomotive (drawn from the museum archives) alongside nineteenth‑century wood type, continuing the hybrid print process of our earlier “Type Tasting” sessions.
On Saturday the doors opened wide to the festival crowd. Our container space formed part of the broader museum site activation where visitors moved through, chatted with us and fellow participants, and observed hands‑on demonstrations of both wood type lock‑up and the laser‑engraved plate process. The buzz of the site amplified as families, heritage enthusiasts and curious passers‑by engaged in the craft of letterpress within a rail‑heritage setting.
Sunday proved to be the major highlight: the “Steam & Smoke BBQ” event held at the museum drew approximately 1,800 people through the gates. Amid food‑trucks, blacksmith demonstrations, nature‑dyeing workshops and the rumble of industrial heritage, our culminating print event stepped into the spotlight.
Working with local schools and the Ipsari art collective, we had developed a large‑format relief block in three parts, one third designed by Redland Primary School (head), one by Ipsari (body), and one by the MTS crew (feet), forming an “exquisite‑corpse” monster concept tied to our theme Monsters of the Industrial Revolution. We inked the block on fabric, laid it flat, and then rolled it with a road‑roller to create a one‑of‑a‑kind print event. The result: bold, massive fabric prints and delighted participants. The day ended with smiles all round as the large‑scale relief printing found its public moment.
Reflections & Impact
Over six weeks, we welcomed hundreds of visitors, teachers, students, artists, and curious locals, into a space where heritage and creativity collided. The residency sparked conversations about history, design, and identity, leaving behind not just prints, but lasting connections. For us, the greatest reward was seeing people engage with the tactile beauty of letterpress and rediscover the stories embedded in Queensland’s industrial past.
Our heartfelt thanks to the Queensland Museum Rail Workshops team for their support and collaboration. This residency was more than an artistic project, it was a celebration of community, culture, and craft. Follow Moveable Type Studio for upcoming activations as we continue to bring letterpress to the people.
The Regional Arts Development Fund (RADF) is a partnership between Queensland Government and Ipswich City Council to support local arts and culture in regional Queensland. This project is supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland.
