The 2010 EXPO stamp

The 2010 Expo stamp was unveiled by Pavel Antonín Stehlík, Commissioner General for the Czech Participation at Expo 2010, and Marcela Hrdá, Director General of the Czech Post, at the ceremony held today in the main hall of the Main Post Office in Jindřišská street, Prague. The stamp is part of the commemorative sheet issued on the occasion of the Shanghai 2010 World Expo.

"The 2010 Expo stamp features the Czech pavilion. The forefront of the building depicts the Old Town of Prague using hockey pucks, with a huge smart ribbon in front of it. The pavilion made such an impression on the Chinese hosts that they have used its image on their own promotional posters," said Commissioner General Pavel Antonín Stehlík who is also a member of the closer Expo Board. "We believe that visitors will be equally enthusiastic about the interior exposition called the Fruits of Civilisation, which is full of rare exhibits."

The 2010 Expo issue will include 70 thousand sheets of a face value of CZK 35, and FDCs with a special handstamp impression commemorating the day and time of the unveiling ceremony, designed by Petr Štěpán (Najbrt Studio). The designer used the image of the Czech pavilion and the unique Czech participation logo. "Stamp design is a rather unique discipline: unlike other business prints which you may normally come accross as a designer, stamps are traditionally and automatically considered as art," said Petr Štěpán. "The specification and production process of stamps are also different because they are valuables. The producer used offset rather than the traditional recess printing for the Shanghai Expo stamp," he added.

Following the 1958 Brussels Expo, the 1967 Montréal Expo, the 1970 Osaka Expo, and the 1992 Seville Expo, this is the fifth occasion in the history of the Czech and the former Czechoslovak Post for special issues of stamps commemorating the World Expo events. "The Czech Post marks the exceptional event with an exceptional stamp. Since the Brussels Expo, the Czech Republic has never been among the largest exhibitors, but its original ideas made it always one of the better category of exhibitors. As you can see from the design featured on the stamp, this year is a confirmation of the tradition," the Czech Post's Director General Marcela Hrdá said.

The 1958 Brussels Expo was marked with six issues of stamps designed by Karel Svolinský and František Hudeček and featuring Czech products and inventions. The author of the 1967 Montréal Expo was Karel Vodák who used Czechoslovak historic monuments. The 1970 Osaka Expo was commemorated with six stamps issued by the Czechoslovak Post. "They included the outstanding piece featuring one of the Views of Mount Fuji woodblocks by Hokusai. The stamp designed by Karel Vodák and masterly engraved by Josef Herčík dazzled the Japanese public and media and won the Best Expo Stamp Award," said the Postal Museum's Director Jan Galuška. The stamp commemorating the 1992 Seville Expo featured the official logo and name of the exhibition, the Czechoslovak participation logo, and the Giralda bell tower of the Cathedral of Seville.

The 2010 Shanghai Expo is to start on May 1st, and will be open until the end of the year. The Czech National Day together with other accompanying programmes will be held on May 17th on the Expo grounds. The Chinese hosts plan to welcome 70 million visitors.

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