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In Defense of drupa

Started with Heidelberg and Xerox and the rest followed. Doesn’t that remind you of something? Herd behavior perhaps? According to Wikipedia “herd behavior” is the behavior of individuals in a group acting collectively without centralized direction. The philosophers Soren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche were among the first to criticize what they referred to as “the crowd” (Kierkegaard) and “herd morality” and the “herd instinct” (Nietzsche) in human society. Modern psychological and economic research has identified herd behavior in humans to explain the phenomenon of large numbers of people acting in the same way at the same time.

To be fair there are valid arguments not to participate in drupa 2021; cost, Covid 19, uncertain economic outlook and the list goes on. But I believe we are all missing something, something precious.  Drupa is entwined in the history and identity of global graphic arts industry. Perhaps no other industry is so dependent on a single mega exhibition. Sometimes we forget the cultural role of printing industry, in dissemination of knowledge and the importance it bares on our daily lives.

Drupa has always been a platform to launch the disruptive technologies.   From Linotype machine, to CTP, and DI press, all premiered first at drupa. It happens every 4 years like Olympics. And we all wait with anticipation to attend the next one. However, even before Coronavirus starts to wreak havoc across the world some argued, whether all that time, cost and energy that goes into every four-year event is really worthwhile for most of the participants? Maybe not for all but for most of the participants it was a wonderful and exciting experience.

After the drupa 2020 was cancelled and moved to 2021, companies started to have second thoughts. The webinars popped out here and there and companies liked it. It is cheap and they are able to target the whole world. Now every week another company (the big brands) announce their withdrawal from drupa and rest of us are amused. Who will be next? It has become a perverse guessing game. Death knell sounds louder and louder, with each company pulling out of drupa.

When I look back to millennial drupa (2000) the sheer numbers seem to me staggering and awe- inspiring.  Over 428,000 trade visitors from 171 countries strolled down the halls of Messe Dusseldorf, 200.000 from overseas.  More than 4,100 journalists (including yours truly) were summoned to this Olympic games of paper and ink industry from all over the globe. Almost 2000 exhibitors from 49 nations, displayed their products and services on an exhibition space of over 160,000 square meters. And what an experience it was!  There is no doubt those numbers will never repeat again. The world has changed and so did the printing industry. Maybe drupa also has to change and it will, but it must exist and be an essential part of our industry. It needs a collective effort from all of us to revive it and participate in it. Drupa organizers have already introduced the so called “Hybrid drupa”, a new online platform to offer exhibitors and visitors an additional channel for touching base with the sector, discussing trending themes and presenting product portfolios.  Personally I believe this is a great strategy which strengthen the relationship between exhibitors and potential visitors. But it cannot replace the physical presence, the in-person meeting, strolling down the aisles of different halls watching machines in action. Hundreds of mechanical parts with the support of state-of-art software functioning harmoniously and in unison. It reminds me of a quote by the Italian poet, editor, art theorist, and founder of the Futurist movement Filippo Tommaso Emilio Marinetti, “Idealists, workers of thought, unite to show how inspiration and genius walk in step with the progress of the machine, of aircraft, of industry, of trade, of the sciences, of electricity. “

So hail to an event that shaped the history of an industry, an industry that revolutionized modern world. And I rest my case.

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