A thesis entitled “The Aesthetics of Postage Stamps and Their Relationship to Political and Social Events”

Postage stamps and political and social events

Quoted from: elnile24

Researcher Rasha Saber Mokhtar Abdel Hamid Gohar, Assistant Lecturer at the Faculty of Applied Arts, Badr University, obtained a PhD in Fine Arts from Helwan University.

The researcher received her PhD from the Department of Graphics, Book and Print Arts Division, after discussing her thesis entitled “The Aesthetics of Postage Stamps and Their Relationship to Political and Social Events”.

The thesis was supervised by Dr. Mohamed Mohamed Rushdi El-Moneer, Professor Emeritus in the Graphics Department, and former Vice Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts for Education and Student Affairs, Helwan University.

The judging committee, in addition to the supervisor, consisted of Dr. Amr Mohamed Sami Abdel Karim, Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts, Helwan University, and former Vice Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts for Graduate Studies, and Dr. Maha Darwish Mohamed Darwish, Professor of the Department of Printed Designs - Head of the Department of Printed Designs at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Alexandria University, as examiners.

The judging and discussion committee praised the topic of the thesis and the effort made by the researcher, and highlighted the scientific and practical value of the thesis in the field of graphic design for postage stamps.

The thesis consists of six chapters:

Chapter One “A brief history of the origin, history, and types of postage stamps”

Chapter Two“The aesthetic values, intellectual and cultural concepts of postage stamps”

Chapter ThreeProduction and supply of postage stamps: design, printing, finishing.

Chapter Four: “Insurance variables for postage stamps”,

Chapter Five: “A comparative study of the aesthetic and insurance value of postage stamps in the Middle East with political and social themes in the 21st century”

Chapter Six: “The practical aspect of the techniques used for postage stamps through the researcher’s experience.”.

Through study and research, the researcher concluded that the beginnings of postage stamp design and its impact on the thinking of the artist-designer, and the phenomena of social mobility and the growth of religious sentiment in society through understanding heritage and changing social reality, and that political, social and economic mobility has a great impact on postage stamp design through the different trends of art and culture; through the role of politics, which had an impact on the creative process in the trends of stamp themes and the thinking of designers.

The study results proved that postage stamps contributed to recording the cultural and civilizational heritage of each country, and represent a basic and investment product in the countries of Europe, the Middle East and the Arab world. The study also benefited from the artistic and design experience in designing postage stamps at the level of the countries of Europe, the Middle East and the Arab world to enrich the researcher’s experience in dealing with topics through lines, color and space solutions, as well as the various modern, applied and insurance technologies that influenced the researcher’s experience.

Another finding is that it is possible to indirectly employ postage stamps for political and social promotion at the level of the countries concerned with the study, and that despite the impact of the Internet on the exchange of messages, we still see a prolific production of postage stamps.

During the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic and disaster crisis, some countries, including Germany, called for the creation of designs for these stamps and their promotion electronically for electronic use only. Despite the existence of that crisis, the design of stamps was not affected by it and was revived, but in an electronic way.

Special editions of some national championships, such as football and the Olympic Games, helped to record the stages of development of stamp design art in accordance with the importance of the sporting event and the circumstances of its issuance, which led to attention and emphasis on the insurance aspect of the postage stamp.

The study recommends that the technological development in European countries should be utilized and applied in the Middle East and the Arab world, because European countries are distinguished by their development and pioneering role in developing the design and security process for producing postage stamps. Some countries have distinguished themselves in designing stamps by keeping pace with the technology of the current era, and this has appeared in countries of the Arab world, most notably the Arab Republic of Egypt.

The stamps have been equipped with QR code technology, which was not previously available, and which helps create a rich interactive experience for the owners of these cards, enabling them to gain knowledge about the occasion of issuing the stamp or card in an innovative and attractive way. Some developments used in the production and design of stamps in the Kingdom of Morocco have also appeared remarkably and clearly. The postage stamp is as it was in the past, and even better in some countries, and keeps up with global events. It is collected by enthusiasts and preserved by researchers and scholars.

The study concluded that it is necessary to complete postage stamp studies for a larger number of countries in an attempt to reveal the extent to which intellectual identity is rooted and developed in the recipient through the works of artists and designers directed directly or indirectly, and to conduct a comparative study between the works of stamp artists and designers and their contemporaries in different countries from artists in the same time period.

The researcher needs to be able to benefit from the artistic, creative, and technological experiences of postage stamp artists and designers and their connection to Egyptian society. The researcher hopes that art colleges and relevant authorities will join forces to allocate some art competitions for stamp design to school and university students, while intensifying the scientific and historical study of these designs due to their artistic value.

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