To celebrate the centennial of the Finnish actors’ federation (Suomen Näyttelijäliitto, or SNL), Itella Posti Oy is releasing a stamp booklet that features six renowned Finnish actors. The booklet will be available on March 4. The actors to be immortalized in the stamps are Ritva Valkama, Esko Salminen, Outi Mäenpää, Martti Suosalo, Krista Kosonen, and Aku Hirviniemi.
Klaus Welp, who designed the stamp booklet, decided to approach the subject from a modern perspective that pays tribute to the long tradition of the acting profession.
- The challenge lay in arranging six artists, all still very much in the limelight, on the same stamp sheet, says Welp.
The booklet’s cover also displays SNL’s centennial logo, designed by Arja Karhumaa.
The actors featured on the stamps were selected by Itella’s stamp committee, which is composed of seven members.
- After lengthy deliberations, we decided that the jubilee stamps should feature popular actors from various generations – actors who represent the entire spectrum of their profession in theaters, films, and television, says Petri Aaltonen, who chairs the stamp committee.
Each actor was involved in the illustration of their own stamp by choosing a performance or role that was particularly meaningful for them. The roles featured on the stamps have also been memorable for audiences.
SNL’s managing director Elina Mäntylä sees the stamp booklet as a tribute to the work of all Finnish actors and the federation.
- Actors constitute an important element in the everyday lives of Finnish people. Every year, our theaters gather audiences in excess of three million and last year, domestic movies running in theaters were seen by more than 2.4 million people – a new record. Moreover, night after night, domestic TV series and shows gather audiences in the hundreds of thousands, even in the millions, says Mäntylä.
SNL’s mission is to improve the income, training, and social status of actors, and to safeguard copyright. In its capacity as a federation of artists, SNL promotes the Finnish arts scene, particularly in terms of theater and film arts.
APPENDICES:
The featured actors’ comments on the stamps (PDF)
The actors featured in the stamps, photo subjects, photographers, and technical details (PDF)
Itella Posti Oy
Itella Corporation, Communications
To see all the stamps available through Posti, please visit our webstore at:
www.posti.fi/ostoksille
