2/9/2022
Postage stamps for prominent artists of Serbia and Germany
Post of Serbia and Embassy of FRG in Serbia promoted today at the Goethe Institute in Belgrade a commemorative stamp issue: Serbia-Germany 100 years since the birth of great artists. The issue, honouring great artists of the 2nd half of the 20th century, Joseph Beuys and Dimitrije Bašičević Mangelos, whose lives and art were chosen to testify to the deep link between Serbia and Germany, was presented to the public by Zoran Đorđević AD of Post of Serbia and H.E. Ambassador of FRG Thomas Schieb.
The representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Serbia, Bojan Cvetković, and the Director of the Goethe Institute, Frank Bauman, were also present.
"The idea we gathered around was to contribute in this symbolic way to further building the overall strong ties between Serbia and Germany. Along with economic cooperation, strong business ties and investment development, we also want to remind people of the close connection and artistic creative ties from many decades ago, with the anniversary of the birth of great artists marked last year, serving as a motive. I am grateful to the Ambassador Schieb and the Goethe Institute for their cooperation and support in the realisation of this philatelic issue, and especially to the contemporary artist Selman Trtovac, one of the authors of the stamps drawings, who honoured us and added value to our issue with carefully selected motifs", said Zoran Đorđević, Acting Director of the Post of Serbia.
"Joseph Beuys and Mangelos had the following in common: they dealt with the existential issues of their time, the essence and role of art after the Second World War. At the same time, they were connected by the demand to create new impulses for social changes and for a better world more valuable for life in it - a demand that is still relevant today. We revive the memory of these two great artists with these commemorative postage stamps. I am looking forward to enriching our already close relations in the field of culture," said Ambassador Thomas Schieb.
Josef Beuys, one of the most important artists of the 20th century, of post-war Europe and Germany, and Dimitrije Bašičević Mangelos, the founder of conceptual art in our region, have experiment, social engagement and relevance as common characteristics of artistic expression.
Motifs on the stamp, vignette and envelope: portrait of Dimitrije Bašičević Mangelos - drawing by Selman Trtovac, graffiti on paper; "Hegel kritik der logik" and "Glagolitic letter c", works by Dimitrije Bašičević Mangelos. Motifs of another stamp, vignette and envelope: portrait of Joseph Beuys; a reflection on the performance "How to Explain a Picture to a Dead Rabbit" by Joseph Beuys; reflection on the work " La rivoluzione siamo noi" by Josef Beuys - drawings by Selman Trtovac, graffiti on paper. Professional cooperation was provided by Ivana Bašičević Antić, PhD, art historian, and the graphic realization of the issue is the work of Jakša Vlahović, the creator of the stamps of the Post of Serbia.