Occasionally I mention how fun a certain country is to explore. I’m pretty uncritical of many stamps, because well, I simply love looking at them and learning something about the country they come from. To me, it’s an expedition to a new place. Sometimes I run across a country that spotlights local artists and crafts that makes me sit up and say “hey!”. It’s one of those “why do we not know more about this art?” moments, and Morocco presented a couple instances this past year.
First, designers for Barid Al-Maghrib (BAM) created some interesting stamp & FDC combos. Of particular note is the anniversary issue for the Ra II Expedition by Mohammed El Ouanti and the double stamp set for the May Screens issue by El Batoul Bargach & H’Hammed Jirari. I wish I could tell you more about the artists and designers, but I hit a stone wall while researching them. If anyone from Morocco happens to have links (doesn’t matter what language) to any of the designers or topics, I’d appreciate you passing this along to me.
Next, the July Euromed stamp information has been fleshed out a bit more. I found better images and some decent information to include. And If you are a lover of art, don’t miss the July tribute to Abbes Saladi, 1950-1992. The painting is intriguing and found few light weight links for you. Hope you enjoy exploring Morocco’s history and art as much as I did.
March
Citadels – Joint Issue with the Dominican Republic
2 stamps, FDC, cancel, sheet of 10
Kasbah des Oudayas / قصبة الأوداية in Rabat and Alcázar de Cólon in Santo Domingo.
Built on a high cliff overlooking the Bouregreg River in Rabat, the Kasbah des Oudayas, inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, was built in the tenth century by the Almoravids as a defense fort. Calif Almohad Abdelmoumen rebuilt it to serve as a royal palace and platform for attacking the Iberian island. A true architectural jewel of Arab-Muslim style, the palace was also the former home of Sultan Moulay Ismail in Rabat. Since 1915, it has housed the National Jewelry Museum.
The “Alcázar de Cólon”, a Gothic and Renaissance palace, overlooking plaza de España on one side and the Ozama River on the other, was completed around 1512. It is one of the most popular museums in the Colonial City and is also the most impressive in architecture. It was once the home of Diego Columbus, son of Christopher Columbus, and his wife, María de Toledo, niece of King Ferdinand of Spain. Product: Joint Emission: Kingdom of Morocco – Dominican Republic (philatelie.ma)
Rabat, Modern Capital and Historic City: a Shared Heritage – UNESCO World Heritage Centre
Designer: Noureddine Noury
Release date: March 25, 2021
April
World Day of Workplace Health
1 stamp, FDC, cancel
Designer: Mohammed El Ouanti
Release date: April 28, 2021
May
50th Anniversary of Thor Heyerahl’s Ra II Expedition
1 stamp, FDC, cancel
Thor Heyerahl’s RA II was a papyrus & reed boat started it’s cross Atlantic trip from Safi in Morocco on 17th May 1970 and successfully sailed 6,100 km to Barbados, landing Juy 12, 1970. You can read more about this at the Ra Expeditions – The Kon-Tiki Museum.
Designer: Mohammed El Ouanti
Release date: May 21, 2021
HM King Mohammed VI-2021
10 stamps in booklet format
Release date: May 24, 2021
Flowers of Morocco
5 stamps in booklet format
Designer: R. Vela
Release date: May 24, 2021
World Day without Tobacco
1 stamp, FDC,cancel
Designer: Noureddine Noury
Release date: May 31, 2021
June
King Mohammad IV “2021” Imprint
1 stamp in booklet of 10
Release date: June 17 , 2021
Arts and Culture – Screens
2 stamps, FDC, cancel
Artists: El Batoul Bargach & H’Hammed Jirari
Release date: June 21, 2021
Abbes Saladi, 1950-1992
1 stamp, FDC, cancel
Abbès Saladi | Art Auction Results (mutualart.com)
Artist: Abbès Saladi
Release date: June 30, 2021
July
EUROMED – earrings with rams horns called “KHORAS KBACH”
1 stamp, FDC, cancel
The stamp reproduces the work of the artist Faissal BEN KIRAN who designed the “KHORAS” earrings using a watercolor technique on paper.
Designer: Faissal Ben Kiran
See all the Euromed 2021 stamps here EUROMED 2021 stamps – Jewelry
Release date: July 12, 2021
August
Anniversary of African Philately
1 stamp, FDC, cancel, philatelic box
… eight African postal operators (BURKINA FASO, CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC, REPUBLIC OF CONGO, IVORY COAST, MALI, MOROCCO, MAURITANIA and SENEGAL) have joined forces to create a digital platform offering Internet philatelists, via a mutually beneficial partnership, a remote selling gallery in the form of a panoply of functions allowing them to consult, order and pay online philatelic products (Stamps, blocks …). Product: African Philately (philatelie.ma)
Designer: Mohammed Elouanti
Release date: August 24, 2021
September
Memories of a Trip to Morocco, by Eugene Delacroix
1 stamp, FDC, cancel
Eugène Delacroix Paintings, Bio, Ideas | TheArtStory
“Almost two centuries after his trip to Morocco, the painter Eugène Delacroix returns to Rabat, at the Mohammed VI Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art. The exhibition, Delacroix, Souvenirs of a trip to Maroc, organized with the Eugène-Delacroix National Museum – Public Establishment of the Louvre Museum, is a first on the African continent and in the Arab world,” claims the National Museum Foundation. Rabat Contemporary Art Museum Hosts Eugene Delacroix’s Memories of a trip to Morocco, A first in the Arab World – Morocco Travel Blog
Release date: September 22, 2021
100th Anniversary of the Battle of Anwal
1 stamp, FDC, cancel
The Battle of Annual was fought on July 22, 1921, at Anwal in Spanish Morocco, between the Spanish Army of Africa and Berber combatants of the Rif region during the Rif War. The Spanish suffered a major military defeat, almost always referred to by the Spanish as the Disaster of Annual, which led to major political crises and a redefinition of Spanish colonial policy toward the Rif.
This site has an excellent chronology of the battle -> Chronology of the Battle of Anwal – Arif News
Release date: September 30, 2021
November
46th Anniversary of the Green March
1 stamp, FDC, cancel
Release date: November 6, 2021
10th Anniversary of the Archives of Morocco (2011-2021)
1 stamp, FDC, cancel
Designer: Sa’id Azarkan
Release date: November 30, 2021
Joint broadcast: Kingdom of Morocco – Republic of Tunisia
1 stamp, FDC, cancel, folder with FDC & 4 stamps
Designer: Layla Allaqui | Nur al-Din al-Nuri
Release date: December 2, 2021
International Volunteer Day
1 stamp, FDC, cancel
Release date: December 6, 2021
Ecole Supérieure des Industries du Textile et de l’Habillement: 25 years
1 stamp, FDC, cancel
ESITH – Ecole Supérieure des Industries du Textile et de l’Habillement (ecolesuperieure.ma)
Release date: December 15, 2021
International Year of Fruit and Vegetables
1 stamp, FDC, cancel
Release date: December 31. 2021
Need another stamp fix? How about glass blowing on stamps?
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