Located in Cali, La Linterna's open-door atmosphere and vibrant billboards echo the city’s spirit, grassroots culture and resistance movement. Metallic clatters from three lithographic machines blend with a salsa playlist in the background as visitors are welcomed in. This iconic workshop and its three owners have been part of a resistance themselves. Founded by Simón Henao Rodas as a gazette, La Linterna became a billboard print shop in the 1930s with the acquisition of the two presses Marinoni in 1870 and Babcock Reliance in 1890.
La Linterna stayed afloat through various family ownerships until its bankruptcy in 2017. Olmedo Franco, Jaime García and Héctor Otálvaro joined the workshop between 1976 and 1989, witnessing its rise and eventual decline with the advent of digital printing. The impending loss of another graphic workshop in the city generated a rescue movement within the graphic design community in Cali, which allowed them to reclaim the space and devise a sustainable business model. Today, sons and grandsons prepare to pass the baton for La Linterna, a workshop that thrives as a design landmark, symbol of resistance and city brand, unwilling to dim its lights.
La Linterna
