The New Zealand 2022 stamp program is underway with Historic Ships of the 19th Century, and it’s hell of a way to kick off a new stamp season. NZ artist Sean Garwood’s classic style grace 4 stamps along with a number of other products. What else is in store for collectors? How about another anniversary set celebrating the release of the Lord of the Rings. For those who never followed LOR, 3 movies were filmed in New Zealand, with the country’s landscape standing in for Middle Earth. Spring brings the second movie, The Two Towers, to the stamp world.
The set that we should all be excited about is Matariki, Māori New Year. The 2021 set by Māori artist David Burke’s was … well, words actually fail me.
How about breathtaking? I occasionally bang on about how some artists use the entire space on a first day cover as a canvas and this is one of those instances. Every bit of the FDC is part of the Matariki story.
Not sure what to expect for 2022, but if Burke’s work is the benchmark, good luck to this year’s artist.
If you have interesting sources about New Zealand that you think people might enjoy, share them in the comments. Let’s discover New Zealand in 2022.
Catpaw
February
Historic Ships of the 19th Century
4 stamps, 2 FDCs, cancel, barcode a & b, blocks, sheets of 25
Designer: Chris Jones, Graphetti
Artist: Sean Garwood Sean Garwood Artist: Sean Garwood – Nelson Artist
Garwood’s art was featured on the 2017 Historic Huts of the Ross Dependency.
Release date: February 2, 2022
March
Poppy Appeal 100 Years
5 stamps, se-tenant strip, mini sheet, 2 FDCs, cancel, barcode a & b, blocks, sheets of 25
Designer: Nicky Dyer
Release date: March 2, 2022
April
NZSO 75 Years
Experience live classical music | New Zealand Symphony Orchestra | NZSO
Release date: April 6, 2022
EID Mubarak
4 stamps, mini sheet, 1 FDC, cancel, barcode a & b, blocks, 4 sheets of 25
lithography, 4 process colours with metallic gold
The colour palette includes bold use of metallic gold and each stamp includes one of four complementary colours which have specific meaning in Islam: turquoise, blue, purple and green NZ Post
Designers: Chris Jones, Graphetti & Waqas and Sameera, MW Calligraphy Art, Wellington, New Zealand
Release date: April 6, 2022
May
4 stamps, souvenir sheet, 2 FDCs, cancel, Barcode A blocks, Barcode B blocks, sheets of 25, , presentation pack
lithography
2022 will be the first time Aotearoa-New Zealand celebrates Matariki as a public holiday.
Matariki is the Māori name for the star cluster known in Europe as the Pleiades, which becomes visible in the Southern Hemisphere in June/July. Matariki can mean either ‘the eyes of god’ or ‘little eyes’, and while different traditions are practiced by different iwi (tribes), up to nine stars are acknowledged. Mānawatia a Matariki (Happy Māori New Year) | ANZSOG
Stamp motifs (descriptions from New Zealand post office info page) each tell part of a story:
- Tāwhirimātea gave his eyes to his father Ranginui (the sky father), as an adornment for his chest at night. At Matariki you can see them shine – signalling the arrival of a new era.
- Tāwhirimātea’s eyes, now on Ranginui, guide Tamarereti as he carries those who have passed on in the previous year to join the star cluster of those who lived before them.
- The nine stars of Matariki – Matariki, Pōhutukawa, Tupu-ā-Nuku, Tupu-ā-Rangi, Waitī, Waitā, Wapuna-ā-Rangi, Hiwa-i-te-Rangi and Ururangi – shine at dawn.
- Ranginui’s cloak of stars celebrates the gift of food, honours those who have passed and welcomes the rising sun – the sign of a new day.
Designer: KE Design, Tolaga Bay, New Zealand
Release date: May 4, 2022
June
Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu 100 – The Correspondence School
4 stamps, souvenir sheet, FDC, cancel, a & b barcode, sheets of 20
offset
Te Kura to celebrate 100 years | LiveNews.co.nz
In 1922, Miss Janet MacKenzie arrived at the Department of Education in Wellington to start work as the first teacher of a new education endeavour – a ‘correspondence scheme’. She was allocated a small office on the second floor of Government Buildings. The role rapidly jumped from the estimated 25 primary-aged students to 347 by the end of the first year. Everything was handwritten and sent by post. Te Kura 100 (nzpost.co.nz)
Designer: Jon Ward, New Zealand Post
Release date: June 1, 2022
Scenic
Series: Definitives
5 stamps, FDC, cancel, a & b barcode, sheets of 20, booklets
4 colour lithography
- Mount Egmont, Mount Taranaki
- Whanganui
- Te Mata Peak, Hawkes Bay
- Waikato River
- Sarjeant Gallery, Whanganui
Whanganui was designated a UNESCO site in 2021.
Whanganui becomes a… | New Zealand National Commission of UNESCO
Whanganui gets UNESCO recognition as a “City of Design” – NZ Herald
Designer: NZ Post
Release date: June 1, 2022
Welcome Back
6 stamp on souvenir sheet
Designer: Designworks, New Zealand and Jon Ward, NZ Post
Release date: June 1, 2022
July
2022 IHC Art Awards
4 stamps, souvenir sheet, 2 FDCs, cancel, 4 sheets of 20, a & b barcode
lithography
- Matthew Tonkin, Aeroplane
- Katie McMillan, Colourful Unicorn
- Malachi Oldridge, My Nani as a Māori Girl
- Charlize Wilson, Looking Out from the Inside
Designer: Nick Jarvie, NZ Post
Release date: July 6, 2022
August
Māori Language Petition 50th Anniversary
4 stamps, souvenir sheet, 2 FDCs, cancel, 4 sheets of 20, a & b barcode
lithography
All details below are quotes from the New Zealand post office site 2022 Māori Language Petition Set of Mint Stamps – NZ Post Collectables
Te whawhai mō te reo | Māori Fighting for te reo Māori
Champions of te reo Māori the Te Reo Maori Society and Nga Tamatoa gathered more than 30,000 signatures for the Māori Language Petition. The petition has reached its 50th anniversary which is a Teir One commemoration for the government in 2022.
Ka whakatakotoria e Hana Te Hemara te petihana ki te Pāremata | Hana Te Hemara delivers the petition to Parliament
On 14 September 1972 the Māori Language Petition was presented to Parliament calling for courses in Māori language and culture to be offered in New Zealand schools. This date became Māori Language Day, and is now celebrated annually with Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, Māori Language Week.
Ka tīmata te Kōhanga Reo, 1982 | Kohanga reo begins, 1982
1982 saw the beginning of Māori language immersion education for preschool aged children. The government agreed to provide $45,000 in the first year for five pilot schemes in Wellington and Auckland, with the first opening in Pukeatua, Wainuiomata.
Ka tīmata te kura kaupapa, 1985 | Kura kaupapa begins, 1985
In 1913 over 90% of Māori schoolchildren could speak the language. Decades of discouragement and bans meant that by 1975 this figure had fallen to less than 5%. As part of the effort to revitalise the endangered language, kura kaupapa Māori, schools that work within a whānau-based Māori philosophy and deliver the curriculum in te reo Māori, began in 1985.
Video on the the anniversary, in Te Reo with English subtitles. It’s one of the better videos I found explaining the significance of the petition.
Designer/artist: Dave Hakaraia
Release date: August 3, 2022
September
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers 20th Anniversary
6 stamps, 6 mini sheets, 6 FDCs w/ mini sheets, 2 FDCs (3 stamps each), cancel, 6 each barcode A & B, 6 sheets of 20, 3 pins, presentation pack (limited edition), presentation pack
lithography
- The White Wizard
- Attack of the Warg Riders
- The Forbidden Pool
- The Battle of Helm’s Deep
- The Last March of the Ents
- The Tales that Really Mattered
This set was originally announced for release in June 2022.
Artist/designer: Sacha Lees
Lees won the 2020 Adam Portrait Award for her Sometimes an outline coloured in portrait.
Release date: September 7, 2022
October
Christmas 2022
5 stamps in booklets of 10, minisheet, 2 FDCs, cancel, sheets of 20, A and B blocks
4 colour lithography with metallic silver
Designer: Donna McKenna
Release date: October 5, 2022
November
Women in Science
4 stamps, souvenir sheet, FDC, cancel, 4 sheet of 20, A and B block, presentation pack
- Mākereti Papakura (1873-1930) (Tūhourangi), leader, guide, ethnographer – Papakura, Mākereti – Dictionary of New Zealand Biography – Te Ara
“widely acknowledged as the first published scholarly work of ethnography written by a Māori scholar.” (From NZ Post)
Details on stamp: Kahu huruhuru (feathered cloak) - Joan Wiffen CBE (1922-2009) palaeontologist – Wiffen, Joan – Dictionary of New Zealand Biography – Te Ara
Details on stamp: New mosasaurs (Reptilia; Family Mosasauridae) from the Upper Cretaceous of North Island, New Zealand, published 1990. - Beatrice Hill Tinsley (1941-1981) astrophysicist – Beatrice Tinsley – Creative and intellectual expatriates – Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand
Details on stamp: Photograph of Beatrice Muriel Tinsley - Lucy Moore (1906-1987) botanist and ecologist – Moore, Lucy Beatrice – Dictionary of New Zealand Biography – Te Ara
Details on stamp: The Genus Pterocladia. You can read Moore’s paper here The Genus Pterocladia in New Zealand. (archive.org)
If you are looking for good information on the people of Aotearoa / New Zealand the online site Te Ara – The Encyclopedia of New Zealand is a great resource. I recommend checking out the links to each woman; the articles are exceptional and fascinating.
Designer/Illustrator: Jo Bailey
Release date: November 2, 2022
Ross Dependency – Science on Ice
4 stamps, souvenir sheet, 2 FDCs, cancel presentation pack, limited edition pack
Designer: Chris Jones, Graphetti
Release date: November 2, 2022
2022 Annual Album
Release date: November 2, 2022
December
Year of the Rabbit
4 stamps, souvenir sheet, 2 FDCs, cancel, 2 gold foil souvenir sheets (24-carat 99.9 gold foil), 4 sheets of 20, souvenir sheet, presentation pack, pin
4 colour process
The design of the 2023 Year of the Rabbit stamps is inspired by the style of the Chinese Nianhua poster. These posters are traditionally designed and produced for New Year celebrations. They show gods, animals and babies enacting Chinese folklore. The style of the posters can be traced back to the Ming Dynasty when woodblock printing was popularised. The stamps, designed by Ying-Min Chu, are intended to evoke a sense of nostalgia while also looking forward to prosperous year ahead. 2023 Year of the Rabbit (nzpost.co.nz)
Designer: Ying-Min Chu, YMC Design, Wellington, New Zealand
Release date: December 7, 2022
See all the beauties from 2021 New Zealand’s stamps
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