Pirate 'Print'cess
Art in places you least expect it!
Budapest Manhole Cover Print by Emma France-Raff
Her textile company is called Raubdruckerin, meaning Female Pirate Printer.
See
Textile artist Emma France-Raff got the idea to print manhole covers on fabric after her father pointed out the beauty of the designs. She felt there were printing plates basically all over the city!
“They are wearing the city with these t-shirts. It’s like a footprint. It also makes people think about what’s on the floor,” Raff says.
Let’s check out some beautiful manhole covers worth printing worldwide.
A colorful fire hydrant cover. There is even a Japan Society of Manhole Covers listing many of the country’s estimated 6,000 examples.
Covers for Berlin Waterworks, designed in 2005, feature some of the city’s landmarks, including the TV Tower and the Brandenburg Gate.
Seattle has commissioned artists to design more than 100 covers around the downtown area.
Say
How do you think your perception of utilitarian manhole covers has changed after learning about Raff and the types found worldwide?
My father drew my attention to the beauty and variety of manhole covers in the first place. That was basically the initial spark for me to explore the potential of using them as printing templates with all my technical background and know-how. I had nothing but ink, a roll, some T-shirts, and a lot of positive energy. -Raff
Tell a friend or family member about a time they drew your attention to something you had previously overlooked. How did it impact your life?
Why do you think places like Japan, Berlin, and Seattle bother making custom manhole covers?
Do
Pay attention to the manhole covers in your area and while traveling. Take a picture a print or a rubbing!
Make your own Manhole Cover Rubbing!
About the Artist: Emma France-Raff
I live and work mostly in Berlin, but I was born in southern France and grew up in Portugal and Berlin in a family of artists. My parents are painters and creative survivalists who used to travel with us kids. They even named us after the countries we were born in, which explains my first name. My parents have always been very inspiring to me. They taught me how to get along with less and how to make more out of what you already have. But like any kid, I wanted to be different than my parents. That is probably why I studied textile design and not fine art.
I am the founder and artistic director of the street printing project Raubdruckerin,
(Female Robber Printer) which I started in 2006 when I was in the middle of my textile studies in Portugal. My father drew my attention to the beauty and variety of manhole covers in the first place. That was basically the initial spark for me to explore the potential of using them as printing templates with all my technical background and know-how. I had nothing but ink, a roll, some T-shirts, and a lot of positive energy.
The first pirate prints were amazing. That same year I presented them together with my father and sister under the name estampatampa at the festival Musicas do Mundo in Sines, Portugal. After a rather modest success of this first presentation, I put the project on hold and went to Paris to work for established fashion and trend companies. That was quite an exciting and influential time in my career as a textile designer. But beyond the glamorous, chic, and prosperous way of life that the fashion world loves to celebrate, I felt obliged to do something different. I was searching for a more sustainable and new way of life and production. And most of all, I wanted to create something on my own. This led to a few side projects, such as Les Muses, where I created hand-made hats from recycled materials, and Quimera, a jewelry and accessories project with unexpected materials. I also did costume designs for clients.
Back in Berlin a few years later, the winner of all projects and ideas became raubdruckerin. That was when I really started as a pirate printer. The inspiring wealth of urban structures and the creative energy of the city had given my former idea a new lease on life. Some things just need a little time and push in the right direction to flourish.
We at raubdruckerin all come from different creative and professional fields such as art, architecture, design and psychology. That we are all searching for a new way of work structure defines our group, as well as the principle: keep it simple and sustainable. Our printing technique is just that. It is a low-tech and manual procedure. It can be considered as a kind of relief printing with objects used in a non-intended way (manhole covers as printing templates). No additional printing plates, screens nor a printing press are required, just ink and a roll.
Being an artist was never a rational decision for me. And I definitely went through a lot of ups and downs. But if you stick to your mission your efforts will be rewarded one day! Certain ideas just need timing, and of course a little push and luck too.
The 'female pirate printer' who creates fashion from manhole covers
The Unexpected Beauty of Manhole Covers Around the World
CONNECT WITH EMMA FRANCE-RAFF
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