European artists on African stamps

Postage stamps are “miniature messengers”, and within media and communication research are considered both a form of international advertising and banal nationalism. However, the increasing privatisation of stamp production has led to stamps becoming a form of revenue for low-income nations through stamp ‘pandering’ to collectors. This research argues that a globally unequal approach to postal privatisation has resulted in Majority World nations prioritising representations and interests of Minority World nations through stamps. Using case studies of three European artists on stamps from African nations, it demonstrates how geopandering through stamps and souvenir sheets reflects larger media concerns about a ‘hierarchy of states’ that perpetuates the erasure of Majority World nations

Hierarchy · Postage Stamps · Print media · Revenue · Art History and Market Analysis · Intellectual Property Law · National Identity and Symbolism