Stationery Fest: This Is Not a Pen Show

Daisy and Neil Ni's twist on the traditional pen show is about community, not commerce.

- BARRY GABAY

A definition first: stationery is not simply quality writing paper. The word embraces all aspects of the hand-held writing culture. During the Middle Ages, educated people worked for the government, the church, or a university, ordinarily in one location. Someone selling pens, ink, paper, and sealing wax knew where to find customers. Such a seller stationed himself outside a government building, a cathedral, or a university. Customers came to him. The Oxford English Dictionary lists the year 1311 as the earliest use of "stationer" for someone who sells books and writing equipment in a fixed location. Like a medieval stationer, the recent Stationery Fest promoted all aspects of writing and recording images by hand.

The orientation of a traditional pen show is to look and buy. For exhibitors, it is to sell, sell, sell. At a trade show, manufacturers welcome customers who browse and later place orders for retail shops or online businesses.

Stationery Fest was held August 7 to 9, 2024, at the Greenpoint Terminal Warehouse in Brooklyn, New York City, New York.

It was an entirely new concept. Fostering community, sharing ideas, and creating communal experiences were key.