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EVALUATION OF LATEST APPROVED VARIANT OF UKRAINIAN
2003 HOLODOMOR, GENOCIDAL FAMINE 1932-1933 STAMP |
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November 1, 2003
Valentyna Vasylivna Khudoliy, Director
Directorate "Publishing House Marka Ukrainy USEP UKRPOSHTA"
Khreschatyk, 22, Kyiv, 01001, Ukraine
Dear Director Khudoliy:
On Wednesday, October 29, 2003, you sent out a memorandum
announcing the new approved draft variant of the decorative postage
stamp 2003, "To commemorate victims of the Great Famine 1932-1933."
The original approved version of the stamp had featured a photograph
of a Russian family of five taken in Russia during the 1921-1922 famine.
We wish to communicate to you that the evaluation of the new draft
variant has been very negative by most of those who have seen it and
the best than can be said by many is, "at least it does not feature a
photograph of a Russian family."
Most of those who have commented on the new variant of the holodomor
stamp have very strong negative impressions especially about the face
shown inside the cross.
The following are typical of the comments we have received at the
UKRAINE REPORT 2003 and the ArtUkraine
Information Service (ARTUIS) in Kyiv and Washington.
(1) "In summary the composition is poorly selected. Obviously the artist
of this version never experienced famine and has no heart in it. There is
no feeling of tragedy in this face. The more I think about it the more
discouraged I get."
(2) "I think the little girl looks like Steven Spielberg's ET. Or it looks
too much like the person in Edvard Munch's famous painting, "The
Scream."
(3) "The face on the newest Holodomor stamp is not of a starving
person. There is no suffering in it. Just a face of a thin but well
preserved woman. I am so disgusted with those indifferent people that
do not know how to show famine."
(4) "I think it's perfectly awful."
(5) "A definite improvement I could live with. The face, however,
reminds me a bit of ET!!
(6) "I must tell you that the new stamp is not all that impressive...the
white cross as background at first glance looks like a floppy white hat!
Quite frankly, the original stamp had a much more visually penetrating
impact...except for the Russian family."
(7) "Indeed, it looks like ET frozen inside an ice-cube."
(8) "The new stamp design is certainly not world class work for sure.
The face inside the cross is just not right, just should not be there the
way it is at all."
(9) "It's the most grotesque stamp I've ever seen."
(10) "Surely this is not their best work. The artists in Ukraine are much
better than this I know. This is not an adequate tribute to the millions who
were starved to death."
(11) "The image of the young girl just is not correct. The photographs I
have seen of starving children do not show those wide dark rings around
the eyes. They are really strange looking on the stamp. The skin on the
face is certainly not of a young girl dying of starvation."
(12) "The face inside the cross is not good for this stamp. It almost
looks like the concept was copied from the face in the famous painting
"The Scream" by Munch. The face of the young girl as it is now depicted
is just not the image that should be used to commemorate this most tragic
of events."
We do not know for sure if this is going to be the final version of the
stamp or if Marka Ukrainy is open to other images. The announcement
letter stated, (1) "would like to give you some information concerning the
draft of the decorative postage stamp," (2) "the publishing house
presented 4 new variants of the stamps. One of the offered drafts was
approved by the counsil," and (3) At the moment the approved variant
of the postage issue...is placed on the official website."
We strongly recommend Marka Ukrainy not move forward with this
approved variant but to go back to the drawing boards and create a
another new version for this very important stamp to commemorate the
millions who died in the genocidal famine in Ukraine during 1932-
1933.
We know from other Ukrainian stamps produced in the past few years
that Marka Ukrainy and its artists are capable of producing world-class
stamps. What has been produced so far for the holodomor stamp does
not meet this high standard for sure. What is needed is an outstanding,
world-class design for the new holodomor stamp that truly does portray
the great human tragedy that took place in Ukraine during 1932-1933.
Sincerely,
E. Morgan Williams, Publisher and Editor
"UKRAINE REPORT 2003"
ArtUkraine Information Service (ARTUIS)
P.O. Box 2607, Washington, D.C. 20013
Tel: 202 437 4707, morganw@patriot.net
Website: http://www.ArtUkraine.com
Office In Kyiv: 380 44 212 5586
Mobile in Kyiv: 380 50 689 2874
Letter Sent To: Valentyna Vasylivna Khudoliy, Director
Directorate "Publishing House Marka Ukrainy USEP UKRPOSHTA"
Khreschatyk, 22, Kyiv, 01001, Ukraine
http://www.stamp.kiev.ua
380 44 229 59 30, 226 34 93, FAX 380 44 229 21 82
E-mail: director@stamp.kiev.ua, philatel_markaua@ukr.net
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