A focus on women, Kaj Franck, Finnish government building operations, and spring flowers
The Finnish stamp year will continue on Friday, April 1, with five new publications, celebrating anniversaries and the blooming flowers of the spring. Anniversaries in 2011 are celebrated by the National Council of Women of Finland, the renowned designer Kaj Franck, and Finnish government building operations. In addition, a dahlia stamp and a tulip stamp will be released in honor of the spring and Easter.
The Wonderful women stamp booklet focuses on women and celebrates the 100th anniversary of the National Council of Women of Finland. The visual theme is the female characters Maisa and Kaarina in different situations. They appear frequently in Finnish magazines and comic books. The booklet, designed by illustrator and graphic designer Tiina Paju and scriptwriter Sari Luhtanen, has six stamps and 30 speech balloons which you may combine with the stamps as you like.
The National Council of Women of Finland includes 62 member organizations that all work to promote gender equality. The organizations have a combined total of over 400,000 members. In addition to the council's history, the purpose of the stamps is to celebrate Finnish women and introduce the versatile daily roles of women.
2011 marks the 100th anniversary of the famous Finnish designer, Professor Kaj Franck. The retro-themed five-stamp miniature sheet shows items designed by Kaj Franck that add a bit of glamour to everyday life. The stamps also show the classic Teema and Karto dishes, which can be found in almost every Finnish home has. The miniature sheet has been designed by Sanna Taskinen, a student at the School of Art and Design who won the "Kaj Franck 100 Years" stamp design competition arranged by the Itella Philatelic Center and the Aalto University School of Art and Design in spring 2010.
Finnish government building operations will turn 200 years in the fall. With his gracious announcement on September 3, 1811, the Russian Emperor founded the Office of the Intendant to supervise building competence. The indendant office was followed by the Board of Public Building, the National Board of Public Buildings, the State Real Property Agency and the current Senate Properties, which is a state-owned enterprise.
Stamps in the booklet designed by Pekka Piippo show six well-known buildings owned by the State of Finland, each reflecting a particular era in the history of construction. The Government Palace from 1828, the House of the Estates from 1890, Malmi Airport from 1938, the Finnish embassy in New Delhi from 1985, the Finnish Forest Research Institute's (Metla) research center in Joensuu from 2004 and the Helsinki Music Center, which will be completed in 2011.
"Bunch of tulips", consisting of yellow and white flowers is perfect for Easter greetings. The stamp has been designed by the famous stamp artist Leena Airikkala.
"Dahlia" is another flower stamp, designed by Päivi Viita. The self-adhesive stamp booklet has ten round 1st class stamps with yellow and red dahlias.
Itella Posti Oy, Philatelic Center
Markku Penttinen, Development Director, tel. +358 20 451 5519, firstname.lastname@posti.fi
Petri Pohjolainen, Product Manager, tel. +358 20 451 5572, firstname.lastname@posti.fi
Tommi Kantola, Product Manager, tel. +358 20 451 5531, firstname.lastname@posti.fi
Itella Communications
Sara Lindström, Communications Manager, tel. +358 50 566 6851, firstname.lastname@itella.com
Image material for the media is available in Itella's Media section at http://www.itella.fi/group/english/media/
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