Kino Xenix Posters: 1981–2013

The idea: a child of the streets

The posters of Kino Xenix have always been more than just perishable advertizing material. Created by different graphic designers, they mirror the programming and artistic development of the movie theater, the personalities of each graphic designer, 30 years of graphic design history, as well as the political and social development of the city. The aim of the «Kino Xenix Posters: 1981 – 2013» book project is to study, set down and present these trends.

The posters: still film

Posters and flyers have always been an integral part of the film club, since its beginnings in 1981 as a project of the AJZ (Autonomes Jugendzentrum Zürich / Autonomous Youth Center of Zurich). Every month, Xenix gives carte blanche to a designer – with the following prerequisites: portrait layout (A2), two colors and a cinematic theme in the broadest sense. In the meantime, the over 30-year history of the theater includes more than 300 posters, reflecting and celebrating sometimes an interpretation, sometimes a political statement and sometimes pure esthetics. The book will contain selected posters in their original size and give an overview of the entire time-span.

The makers: poster freaks, movie buffs, etc.

Kino Xenix has a unique position among Zurich’s movie theater: for 30 years, it has been the screening venue for independent, committed and experimental film and video productions and taken a critical position on political, social and cultural issues. Its programming is focused on themes, directors or actors and individual works that are characterized by their artistic design, their historic significance, their character as a witness and their formal originality.

Cornelia Diethelm (Graphic Designer, Kino Xenix) and Sabina Albanese have presented the highlights of more than 30 years of Xenix’s poster history in just the right form. The book is being published by Zurich’s APPLAUS Verlag.

You are our star!

With your contribution, you will support us in producing the book by covering printing costs and binding. You’ll ensure the book is published and you’ll not only secure yourself a spot on our «Walk of Fame», you’ll also get some great posters, as well as goodies from the movies, art and culture. For example: a special edition of the book with a serigraph poster, exclusively designed for us by Zurich illustrator Michel Casarramona.

The exhibition:: «...dereinst im Museum für Gestaltung...»

Posters shouldn’t just be examined up close, they should also be hung up, pasted over, mounted and torn down. Therefore, the Museum für Gestaltung Zürich will be holding an exhibition between 21.08.2014 – 28.09.2014, at the same time the book is to be published, as a platform to present this exceptional collection. A large part of the original posters will be mounted and the posters will be accessible in their authentic format.

All existing posters (ca. 300) will be available digitally (via iPads).