Artistic stamps to be issued

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News and media releases: 2009

02 June 2009

The inspiration for the stamps series on the architecture of the Constitutional Court

STAMPS bearing the artwork of leading South African artists – the works are displayed at the Constitutional Court - will be launched on 5 June and will be available at all South African post offices.

Works by Marlene Dumas, William Kentridge, Robert Hodgins, Judith Mason, Gerard Sekoto, Albert Adams, Kagiso Pat Mautloa, Dumile Feni, Andrew Verster and Penny Siopis, among other artists, will make up the Post Office’s latest stamp issue.

Images chosen for the stamps are from the book, Art and Justice: The Art of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, published by David Krut Publishing. The selections were made by the philatelic services of the South African Post Office, with the help of Bronwyn Law-Viljoen, the managing editor at the publishing house.

“I edited and contributed to the book … Therefore I had a good overview of the artwork in the Constitutional Court,” says Law-Viljoen. “I did not select any of the images for the stamps but I was able to supply all of the final photographs for the stamps since these all appeared in the book.

“I was involved in a similar way in the selection of the first series of stamps. These were all chosen from the first book I edited and published on the Constitutional Court called Light on a Hill: The Architecture of the Constitutional Court of South Africa.”

Four sets

The South African Post Office, in conjunction with the Constitutional Court, has developed a set of four themed stamps. Architecture was the first subject in the Constitutional Court stamps set, issued on 25 June 2008.

The intricately crafted doors

After the court was established in 1994, an international competition was held for the design of the new building. Headed by the distinguished international architect, Charles Correa, the jury chose a design based on the concept of justice under a tree, by young Durban architects Janina Masojada and Andrew Makin, and Paul Wygers from Johannesburg.

The architects worked closely with the court to produce a building noted for its transparency and entrancing volumes. In contrast to most courts, it is welcoming rather than forbidding, filled with sparkle and warmth.

Stamps are regarded as little ambassadors since they travel the world, says Dr Ivan May, the chairperson of the Constitution Hill Trust.

Constitution Hill and the Constitutional Court are of great importance to Joburg and the entire country. As a result, the philatelic services at the South African Post Office, which is in charge of producing stamps, arranged for the sets of stamps to be produced, says May.

The post office chose to launch the set of stamps because of the importance of the Constitutional Court, he adds. It is extremely unusual for a court to be built on the site of a prison. This site, a prison complex consisting of the Old Fort Prison, Number Four, and the Women's Jail, was deliberately chosen because of its painful past.

Prisoners at Number Four included famous figures such as Mahatma Gandhi and Albert Luthuli. Nelson Mandela first went there as a young lawyer, then as a prisoner and finally as president of South Africa.

Stamp design

Designing the stamps is a team effort, involving the Post Office’s product development team, the stamp advisory committee and a number of external design artists, says Johan van Wyk, the senior manager of philatelic services at the South African Post Office.

Artworks adorn the Constitutional Court building

The themes in the Constitutional Court stamp sets, and their release dates, are architecture of the Constitutional Court in 2008, artwork in the building in 2009, history of the hill in 2010 and the Constitution in 2011.

The stamps will be available at all post offices.

The Joburg 2010 International Stamp Show and the 23rd Asian International Stamp Exhibition will be held at the Sandton Convention Centre between 27 and 31 October 2010. The shows are jointly organised by the South African Post Office and the Philatelic Federation of South Africa.

It is also possible for members of the public to suggest themes for commemorative stamps, but this must be done two years in advance. Proposals are submitted for evaluation to the stamp advisory committee, a subcommittee of the Post Office’s board of directors.

The minister of communications and the Cabinet give final approval for stamp sets. The Constitutional Court stamps were one of the proposals made, says van Wyk.

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