Description
Africa Day is celebrated on May 25, in memory of the day when the heads of 32 independent states of the African continent signed the charter in Addis Ababa, which created the first organisation of independent African states – the Organisation of African Unity, that later grew into an organisation called the African Union. The primary goal of the African Union is to achieve the unity and solidarity of African countries and their citizens, in accordance with the Union’s vision of a united, prosperous Africa, as a continent of peace, governed by its people.
The commemorative postage stamp has a pan-African motif – a wooden sculpture Map of Africa, a sculpture by Nikola Kolja Milunović, made of different types of wood from Africa, which was created on the occasion of the opening of the Museum of African Art in Belgrade. The sculpture is specific because the relief does not represent a geographical, but a political map of the continent after decolonization.
Eight vignettes of this issue, pay a special trubute to countries whose contributions to African unity and pan-African initiatives have echoes in Serbia as well – Nigeria is represented by the Head of Olokun, a bronze alloy sculpture; Angola is represented by a wooden Sculpture of Woman; Algeria is represented by a stringed instrument Imzad; a Horse Saddle symbolizes the artistic crafts of Morocco and Khayamiya textile reperesent Egypt. These objects are part of the rich collection of the Museum of African Art in Belgrade. The figures of the Masai people are characteristic of Kenya; The camel skin bag symbolizes the artistic crafts of Tunisia, while Ethiopia is represented by the Prayer Book on Parchment, of the Ethiopian Oriental Orthodox Church. These precious items, also shown on the vignettes, are kept in the Book and Travel Museum of the Society Adligat. All motifs and colours of the vignettes illustrate the cultural richness and splendour of the people of the African continent.
The FDC shows an Admiral type anchor from the Negriera wrecked slave ship, and a fishing boat from the Mankwadze village in Ghana, exhibits of the Museum of African Art, also shown on the FDC, which is the first and only one in the region dedicated exclusively to the cultures and arts of the African continent and represents an important cultural link between Serbia and Africa. In the background is a painting on the bark of a tree Birds on a tree, Swahili coast art, tinagatinga painting of Tanzania, from the Book and Travel Museum of the Society Adligat, which inherits highly important collections from many African countries, thus forming a significant point of cooperation between the cultural institutions of Serbia and African countries.
Expert collaboration: Museum of African Art, Belgrade; Society Adligat for Culture, Arts and International cooperation.
Graphic realization of the issue: Nadežda Skočajić, MA graphic artist.
