CHENNAI: In a world that has lost the fine art of patience somewhere in the chaos of progress, it may be hard to fathom what the celebration of World Post Day on October 9 was all about. Instant communication may have replaced the inland letters and postcards of yesterday, but it certainly pales in comparison to the joy of knowing someone through the curves of their handwriting. Nevertheless, the postal services still play an important role today and the day is in recognition of the start of this communication network that revolutionised the world. Here are some interesting tidbits from the world of art.
When art arrived by mail
In the 1960s, artists challenged conventional channels to exhibit and sell their art and instead sent postcards with their drawings on them through the post. Termed Mail Art, this artistic movement was able to bypass official systems like art museums and galleries by relying on an outside network to share artworks. The father of this art form was American artist Ray Johnson, who began sending artistically beautiful mail to his friends as a teenager in the early 1940s as a sort of experiment with art.
By the mid-1950s, this became an important aspect of his practice. He started producing a type of collage, made out of cut-outs from popular print media, which he called “moticos”, which he then mailed in envelopes. His mailings included letters, flyers, and packages, which were all transformed into artistic media and the network established defied an otherwise commercialised art world. He also sent out mails with brief art history essays and drawing instructions, thus creating a new model of network-based education.
He prompted responses from the receiver, by adding the line ‘Please Add and Return’ and stimulated participation. Instructing his correspondents to cut up his work and mail it to a multitude of people, he hoped that this act would drive home the ephemerality of both art and mail.
Some of his mails were in the form of books that he sent as incomplete editions in an attempt to leave them open and unstructured. After his death at age 67, mail artists continued using postal services to circulate art, which has recently shifted to using emails and other social media platforms. For most artists, sharing art through posts brought on a spirit of being together even though apart. As Johnson remarked, “Mail Art is not a square, a rectangle, or a photo, or a book, or a slide. It is a river.”
So, has Mail Art never seen the walls of a gallery? There have been several exhibitions held in alternative spaces like stores and apartments. However, the prime focus remains the process of exchanging ideas through postal networking, beyond the differences of race or religion.
Stamped history
Happen to know how the first postage stamp in history was created? The Penny Black was the world’s first postage stamp that was issued on the first of May in 1840. It featured the profile of Queen Victoria and was designed by William Wyon as his entry for a stamp design competition. He then worked with artist Henry Corbould to refine his winning entry. Until then, postal rates were complicated and mostly paid by the recipients on delivery, based on the distance covered.
The introduction of The Penny Black allowed letters to be sent at a standard price of one penny, regardless of the distance. The stamp was a huge hit instantly and in one year, almost 70 million mails were sent, bearing the stamp on its cover. It remained in use for the next 40 years, undergoing small changes over the years.
And when the first stamp was introduced, ever wondered why it was decided to place them on the upper right corner of envelopes? The reason was simple — because 80% of the male population was right-handed, it was thought that this position would make the process of sending mail easier.
India got its first postage stamp in 1852. It was unlike the regular stamp — it was circular, bore the emblem of the British East India Company’s merchant mark, and was embossed individually onto paper. The Penny Black postage stamp was available in India only in 1901.
Independent India asserted its liberation by issuing the first postage stamp depicting the Indian flag with the slogan ‘Jai Hind’ in 1947. Ever since, the country has had a rich history of stamps that tell the nation’s stories, taking on many aspects of India’s development.
CR Pakrashi has to his credit some of the most iconic stamps in India. Having designed almost 56 stamps, each of them has interesting anecdotes. While the ‘Jai Bangla’ stamp from 1973 was drawn from his childhood in pre-independent Bangladesh, several of his designs like the Gandhi centenary stamp from 1969 and Nehru’s portraits from 1973 landed him in controversies.
Backed by research, his designs have graced most of our envelopes and captured our imagination. Stamps carry images and messages from the issuing country to the world and designing them is a unique art connected to our heritage.
Often unsung, the postal services have touched the lives of millions across the world throughout history. From bringing news from a loved one on the war front to announcing the major and minor upheavals in life, the mail has connected us beyond the separating miles. Let’s pause a minute to finally say — We thank you!