Theater

Discovery: Belarus – Uruguay 2017

by Richard Zimmermann

This week, a mail from Eric Zoet (Portugal) dropped in my mail box with the simple question: “Could not find this 7/15 November 2017 Belarus – Uruguay joint issue in your catalogue?”. Me neither, of course, but a careful exploration of my older files led me to re-discover both series of stamps and their images in the list of pending issues, that were not considered as joint so far.

On September 7, 2017, Uruguay issued a miniature sheet with three triplets of two different stamps and a central label, with stamps chessboard ordered. These stamps were issued at the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the relationship with Belarus. During this year of 2017, Belarus issued several stamps celebrating the same 25th anniversary of relationships with other countries, including China, Poland, Latvia, India, Kazakhstan, Russia, Romania and Moldova, among which two translated in true joint issues: India [T20170912] and Kazakhstan |T20170916]. During the year 2018, Belarus issued at similar occasion three additional joint stamps with Kyrgyzstan [T20181018], Azerbaijan [T20181119] and Uzbekistan [T20181123a].

Among all these different products, the anniversary involving Uruguay was initially considered as unilateral, also because at that time it was difficult to retrieve information from Uruguay on the net (which was solved in the meantime, Uruguay Post does have a very nice web site describing all their products) . Now, upon this request, it appeared not only that there was more than a common anniversary, but also that the illustrations were close to identical. The stamps of both countries reproduce the Bolchoi Theater of Belarus in Minsk and the Solis Theater in Montevideo, Uruguay. This clearly demonstrates that the two postal administrations have worked together to agree on the topic and the final pictures. They just did not agree on the same date of issue, Belarus issuing its stamps on November 15, 2017, so that thestamps are now filed as a Concerted issue under the entry [C20170907]. The catalogue Year 2017 has been updated accordingly (Vol 13 – page 1528-1529). Thanks again Eric.

Update October 2023

by Richard Zimmermann

Alike in 2022 [B20221009], UPU proposed a common design at the occasion of the World Post Day and interested countries could adapt and join. These stamps were discovered accidentally, when the first stamps issued by Egypt and Sri Lanka were released on October 9, 2023. This year only a limited number of countries did participate, but the list is not complete yet and we are expecting discovering more of them. The design shows handshaking in violet and the size and structure of the stamp is similar as the one issued last year. The different adhering postal administrations could adapt the size and the language. This is not a true joint issue, but it will be described in the catalogue under the category Borrowed design [BD]. Other countries such as Malaysia, Pakistan, Thailand, issued also one or two stamps at the same date, related to the World Post Day, with different designs. Those stamps cannot be considered as joint as they are just commemorating a same event.

From Enzo Cafaro (Italy): The ‘Endurance’ stamp series involving British Antarctic Territory, Falkland Islands, South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands and described so far under March 27, 2023 [D20230327] has in fact never been released and was postponed recently a new time. The description of these stamps had to be removed from the catalogue and is now available in the waiting list at the end of the catalogue.

Jaap Sarelse (The Netherlands) discovered a series of three Singapore aerogrammes belonging to the 1992 ASEAN series. This country issued these postal stationeries on top of the stamps they released the same day. Up to now, those items were not described in the catalogue and the update will appear under the heading [P19920808], year 1992, Volume 6. Thanks Jaap, for providing this missing information.

New information related to the Euromed 2023 issue [P20230710]: Jordan issued a 6-stamp sheetlet on September 10, 2023. (Source Jeff Courtright, USA). On October 20, 2023, Albania issued the 2022 (!) Euromed stamp [P20220711] (Source Enzo Cafaro, Italy).

From Adam Paish, UK: there is an unusual Guernsey Post Office stamp issue scheduled for release on November 3, 2023, a souvenir sheet which contains two stamps, one inscribed ‘Guernsey’ and the other ‘Alderney’, depicting their respective courthouses. It celebrates the seventy-fifth anniversary of the 1948 Transfer Agreement which saw Guernsey take over responsibility for most of Alderney’s public services. Stamps inscribed Alderney or Guernsey are valid on mail from all the islands of the Bailiwick: Guernsey (incorporating Herm), Alderney and Sark. This item will be considered as a Territorial Se-tenant issue [SD].

The first image of the Thailand stamp/souvenir sheet from the Hungary – Thailand joint issue to be released on November 29, 2023 was presented. This issue will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the diplomatic relationship between both countries.

Euromed 2023

by Richard Zimmermann

The yearly Euromed issue was released on July 10, 2023 with the common topic “Festivals”. So far, all participating countries have issued their stamps on this same date, with the exception of Tunisia which released its stamps on July 11, 2023. There are 13 countries participating, including Bosnia Herzegovina, Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, France, Greece, Malta, Montenegro, Morocco, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain and Tunisia. Other potential countries, having participated to Euromed issues in the past years, could also include Albania, Algeria, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and Turkey, but no information is available from these countries at this stage.

The scope of festival is quite large and each country selected one specific topic including film, dance, theater, music or photography festivals, but also food, fireworks or even the very specific Moreska Sword Dance Festival.