GEORGE NEWS - Southern Africa is world-renowned for its rich heritage of beautiful rock art dating back thousands of years. The creators of this art form, the early San people, were migrant hunter-gatherers who lived in small, mobile communities, often following migratory game.
They left behind a record of their daily life and spiritual rituals in images painted onto rocks in overhanging cliffs or engraved onto stones in the open veld.
"Over the years, postal authorities have issued various stamps and other postal items capturing this wealth of rock art which tell fascinating stories about the culture and belief systems of the first people of Southern Africa," says Prof Willie Mollentze, a retired professor of medicine from the University of Free State and a keen collector of stamps featuring San rock art.
His captivating stamp collection will be on display at the George Library as part of South African Library Week which will be celebrated from 20 to 26 March under the theme, "Telling powerful stories".
Entitled "The Rock Art of Southern Africa: a Philatelic Perspective", the exhibition features some of the most renowned San art on stamps from the region.
"Postal stamps are miniature pieces of art telling powerful stories about the history of a country or a region. The rock art created by the ancient San people is a form of visual communication predating reading and writing, the hallmark of modern civilisation," says Mollentze, who is also chairperson of the George Stamp Club.
Another interesting stamp collection that will be on display during SA Library Week is that of Dr Charles Deacon, well-known retired veterinary surgeon from George and a keen philatelist.
His exhibition focuses on Christmas stamps - a special stamp with a Christmas theme intended for seasonal mail such as Christmas cards.
"The older generation of South Africans are familiar with the specially designed Christmas stamps bearing a double red cross. These stamps carry no face value and were sold to generate funds for the prevention of tuberculosis. The Christmas Stamp Fund was inaugurated in Denmark in 1904 and introduced into South Africa in 1929 by Mrs Maja Christiansen," says Deacon.
His collection of early South African Christmas stamps tell the interesting story of how these stamps contributed towards the fight against tuberculosis in South Africa.
Conservation management consultant Ken Coetzee will also exhibit stamps featuring various aspects of philately "for the uninitiated".
The George Stamp Club meets at 18:00 on the second Thursday of each month in the Presbyterian Church Hall in Caledon Street. All are welcome. For more information, please contact Willie Mollentze on 082 555 7760.
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