World Poetry Day Published by the United Nations (3 Offices)
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On 20 March 2015, the United Nations Postal Administration (UNPA) will issue a set of 6 stamps to commemorate World Poetry Day. A decision to proclaim 21 March as World Poetry Day was adopted during UNESCO’s 30th session held in Paris in 1999.
In celebrating World Poetry Day, UNESCO recognizes the unique ability of poetry to capture the creative spirit of the human mind. One of the main objectives of the Day is to support linguistic diversity through poetic expression and to offer endangered languages the opportunity to be heard within their communities.
The observance of World Poetry Day is also meant to encourage a return to the oral tradition of poetry recitals, to promote the teaching of poetry, to restore a dialogue between poetry and the other arts such as theatre, dance, music and painting, and to support small publishers and create an attractive image of poetry in the media, so that the art of poetry will no longer be considered an outdated form of art, but one which enables society as a whole to regain and assert its identity.
Poetry reaffirms our common humanity by revealing to us that individuals, everywhere in the world, share the same questions and feelings.
Poetry is the mainstay of oral tradition and, over centuries, can communicate the innermost values of diverse cultures.
Source: WOPA Stamps
published April 23rd, 2015
Treasures of Malta Series III – Aqueducts
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Commemorating the 400th anniversary from the construction of the Wignacourt Aqueduct
Since ancient times, aqueducts were constructed to convey water from one location to another usually by using a system of natural riverbeds, canals bridges or other forms of stonework. In Malta aqueducts were mainly built above the ground in the form of bridges.
The Knights of St John built Valletta on an arid, rocky peninsula that had just one natural spring and consequently an aqueduct was necessary so as to provide the new city with water. The first attempts to build an aqueduct were made in 1596 by Grandmaster Martin Garzes. Many engineers were employed, but most of their attempts failed. (read more)
published April 22nd, 2015
Croatia Publishes ‘Bobbin Lace – Joint Issue Croatia – Spain’
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LEPOGLAVA LACE
The best known bobbin lace got its name by the municipality of Lepoglava, situated in the Varaždin County, in the north-west Croatia. In Lepoglava in the 19th and 20th century bobbin lace of various techniques and motifs was manufactured. Already at the end of the 19th century the lace craft in Lepoglava became part of the social politics i.e. organised home production, with the aim to ensure an income to village women. A new rise of the lace craft in Lepoglava began in the 1930-ies with Danica Brössler (1912 – 1993), who in a short period of time became an excellent designer and lace craft teacher. Having researched the market and the European lace craft, Danica Brössler changed the by then used technique and motifs and created the recognisable lace which by its technological features can be classified as the Croatian variant of the Duchesse lace. It is a kind of fine lace made of very thin thread and joined floral motifs which were created by various types of interweaving and leaves with low relief ribs. (read more)
published April 7th, 2015
The USPS Issues Cherry Blossom Centennial
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This panoramic USPS cherry blossoms stamp commemorates Tokyo’s gift of cherry blossom trees to the city of Washington D.C. as a sign of growing friendship between Japan and the United States of America.
In 2012, the U. S. Postal Service commemorates the centennial of the gift of more than 3,000 cherry blossom trees from the city of Tokyo to the city of Washington, D.C with the Cherry Blossom Centennial (Forever®) stamp design. The two stamps, which are near mirror images, form the left and right halves of a panoramic view of blooming cherry trees surrounding the Tidal Basin.
The stamp on the left depicts blossoming trees arching over two girls dressed in bright kimonos, and a family on a stroll with the Washington Monument in the background. On the second stamp, the Jefferson Memorial forms the backdrop for tourists taking in the sights under a canopy of pink blooms. (read more)
published March 26th, 2015
USPS Releases ‘Gifts of Friendship’ (Japan Joint Issue)
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In 2015, the U.S. Postal Service® and Japan Post jointly issue Gifts of Friendship, a sheet of stamps featuring beautiful images of flowering dogwood and flowering cherry trees. This issuance celebrates the enduring bond between two nations on the centennial of the gift of dogwood trees from the United States to Japan in 1915.
The left side of the stamp sheet features four new stamp designs: two created by the Postal Service™ and two created by Japan Post. It also includes two Japanese characters meaning “friendship,” the title of the issuance “Gifts of Friendship,” and a short line of selvage text. On the right side of the sheet are eight additional stamps (four each of the two U.S. designs). The two U.S. designs highlight the beauty of flowering cherry and flowering dogwood trees in Washington, D.C. The first stamp depicts the Lincoln Memorial with vibrant cherry trees in the foreground, while the second stamp depicts the U.S. Capitol Building surrounded by white and pink dogwood trees. The Japanese-designed stamps feature two prominent buildings in Tokyo, Japan’s capital city: the National Diet Building framed by cherry blossoms, and the clock tower outside the Diet Building rising behind a foreground of white dogwood flowers. (read more)
published March 17th, 2015
Europa – Old toys Issued by San Marino Post
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PostEurop, organization who meets every two years to decide the themes of the philatelic issues of its member States dedicated to Europa, chose “old toys” for the year 2015. The 0.80€ value depicts a rocking horse, a toy that ties the present of the children with the past of the adults. The first rocking horse dates back to 1610 and it is kept by the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. The 0.95€ value shows a toy car, a typical game that connects present and past generations. The designer Gabriella Giandelli is also a comic-strip artist, a scriptwriter, a director and a children’s book illustrator. She created the character “little rabbit Milo” for the Mondadori’s children collections which also became a cartoon for the Rai network.
Source: San Marino Post
published March 17th, 2015
Expo Milano 2015 – ‘Feeding the planet, Energy for life’ Issued by San Marino Post
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The souvenir sheet, made up of 3 values of 1.00€, celebrates the Expo Milano 2015. The event will begin on the 1st May 2015 and its aim is to offer a new model of development and a new idea of cooperation. The Republic of San Marino will take part with its own booth by the Bio-Mediterraneum Cluster. The designer Mauro Vincenzo Bubbico, Professor of Visual Communication Design at the Isia in Urbino, is a master of design oriented towards environmental and social education. The theme of the Expo ”Feeding the planet, Energy for life” is shown through three figures that represent the work of the artisan, the sun and the earth that make the miracle of life come true. The first stamp depicts a bunch of grapes symbol of wine, the second one shows an olive branch symbol of oil and the third one represents three ears of wheat. The gold foil on the souvenir sheet ennobles the universal message of the Expo.
Source: San Marino Post
published March 16th, 2015
Ferns Issued by the USPS
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Five stamps, originally issued in 2014, celebrate the beauty-and popularity-of ferns. A favorite with gardeners and florists, ferns range from tiny moss-like plants to giants as tall as trees. The ferns featured on the stamps are five of the approximately 380 different species found in North America.
Each of the five stamps depicts a close-up photograph of a different species of fern. The shapes and textures of the fronds stand out against a stark white background, highlighting the placement of the leaflets along each fern’s stem. The name of each fern-autumn fern, Goldie’s wood fern, soft shield fern, Fortune’s holly fern, or painted fern-is placed vertically in capital letters along one edge of the stamp. Art director Phil Jordan created the stamp art by choosing five images from among dozens of existing pictures by photographer Cindy Dyer. After Dyer isolated the fronds in her photos, providing a white background, Jordan tightened the focus on each to fit within the stamp borders. He rotated some of the fronds to provide visual interest and oriented them in relation to one another to form a unified whole. The Ferns stamps add elegance to envelopes and are an exquisite continuation of the U.S. Postal Service’s tradition of offering stamps that feature beautiful plants. These stamps are being issued as Forever® stamps in coils of 3,000 and 10,000. Forever stamps are always equal in value to the current First-Class Mail® one-ounce price. The piece is presented in an elegant silver-toned frame with gold accents. A dust cover and sawtooth hanger are included on the back for easy display.
Source: USPS
published March 13th, 2015
3D Printing Revolution issued by San Marino Post
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The philatelic issue dedicated to the 3D Printing Revolution is made up of three revolutionary stamps of € 0.10-0.80-2.15. Innovation, emerging technologies and internationality are the characteristics of the first philatelic set designed by the American illustrator Andy Rementer. He is the author of “Techno Tuesday”, a comic about the nervous habits and idiosyncrasies of the technologic world. The 3D printer is an advanced technology that produces tridimensional objects, made of plastic or other materials, from a computer 3D model. Rementer designed three virtual scenes that forerun the times with his original and visionary comic strip style. The set represents the production of food (€0.10 value), more complex and elaborate objects (€0.80 value) and a provoking “duplicate” of a human being (€2.15 value). This topic will be object of the intellectual debates.
Source: San Marino Post
published March 12th, 2015
International Day of Happiness published by the San Marino Post
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The Republic of San Marino celebrates the International Day of Happiness with a philatelic set designed by Mirella Musri, an illustrator, an artist and a teacher from Argentina. The two stamps show four children from different ethnic groups playing together: they run on the earth (€ 0.95 value) and they ride a stylized swallow with Mount Titano in the background (€ 2.30 value). The International Day of Happiness, established by the United Nations General Assembly on the 12th of July 2012, is celebrated on the 20th of March. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stated that the world needs a new economic paradigm that recognizes the parity between the three pillars of sustainable development: social, economic and environmental well-being are indivisible, together they define gross global happiness. Mirella Musri, who worked by Fabrica, Benetton research centre on communications, meets UFN’s aim to increase the creative quality of the stamps through the interaction of artists and designers from different cultures.
Source: San Marino Post
published March 12th, 2015
Mirror Mirror – Issued by the Finland Post
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This year, International Women’s Day is celebrated with stamps depicting female caricatures looking at themselves in a mirror. The Mirror Mirrorstamp booklet contains four 1st class stamps. The stamps are designed byLaura Valojärvi who specializes in illustrations for children’s books. She is also writing a doctoral dissertation at Aalto University, researching the significance of picture books from the point of view of Finnish children’s book illustrators.
Source: WOPA Stamps
published March 11th, 2015
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