Kwanzaa Celebration Postage Stamp by Artist Daniel Minter

Images of Eyes Gallery--fine
art by international artists

Images of Eyes Gallery I
Kwanzaa Celebration Postage Stamp
by Artist Daniel Minter
United States

Kwanzaa postage stamp designed by
stamp artist Daniel Minter of U.S.

Kwanzaa Celebration - Dec 26 to Jan 1

The Kwanzaa Celebration was captured on October 16, 2004, when the new 37-cent first-class Kwanzaa stamp was issued by the U.S. Postal Service at the DuSable Museum of African American History, Chicago. Stamp artist Daniel Minter created a design that appropriately balances formality with a celebratory, festive mood. The seven days of Kwanzaa, and the seven principles they signify, are represented by seven figures in colorful robes.

Kwanzaa is a non-religious African American holiday that takes place over seven days, from December 26 to January 1. It draws on African traditions and takes its name from the Swahili phrase for "first fruits." Its origins are in harvest celebrations that occurred in ancient and modern times in various places across the African continent. These traditions were synthesized and reinvented in 1966 by Maulana Karenga as the contemporary cultural festival known as Kwanzaa.

The holiday is intended to be a celebration of seven principles -- unit, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity, and faith -- based on values prevalent in African culture.

---Information from U.S. Postal Service Postal News, Oct. 18, 2004, reproduced here with thanks. The copyright for the stamp is owned by the United States Postal Service. It is believed that the use of postage stamps to illustrate the stamp in this exhibit qualifies as fair use under United States copyright law. Other use of this image elsewhere may be copyright infringement.

Artist's statement about the 2004-2005 Kwanzaa Stamp

"It is an honor for any artist to be chosen to create artwork for a United States Postal Service stamp. I feel particularly honored to be called to the task of creating this Kwanzaa stamp. It carries a cultural significance that goes far beyond the reach of a .37-cent postal stamp. It takes with it a set of values that have been used to build communities in Africa for thousands of years, now rewoven in this country to bring us "The First Harvest" Kwanzaa: a celebration of culture and community. I think of all of my artwork as being an expression of my culture and community, so the idea of reinterpreting that to fit in a 1-inch frame appealed to me on a very personal level.

"In choosing symbols to represent Kwanzaa, the number seven is primary. Seven is the number of principles in the N'guzo Saba, or the seven principles to live by throughout the year.

"In the Kwanzaa stamp, I used seven figures to represent Ujima, which means community. Two mothers, Imani, which means faith, and Nia, which means purpose, are holding the community together. One is a physical mother, and one a spiritual mother. Both of them wear crowns of fabric to distinguish themselves, and atop each crown is a bird. This Sankofa bird looks to the past to understand the present, and never forgets from where it came. They are Kuumba, or creativity, ready to fly.

"The other five figures look to the left, the right, forward and back, they look to each other. They are Umoja, or unity, and Ujamma, symbols for cooperative work and economics. They all wear robes that are blowing in the wind like flags, all moving in the same direction. They represent Kujichagulia, self-determination.

"The colors red, black, green, gold and yellow represent the continent of Africa. Red is for the blood that we have shed, black is for our people, green is for the land and growth, gold is for wealth and prosperity, and yellow is for the sun, or the future. The blue in the center represents the mother, the source of life, the ocean.

"When these colors and patterns are displayed together on the stamp panel, they form a quilt of the sort that our mothers and grandmothers made. This Kwanzaa stamp is continuing a quilt that our grandmothers started long ago when they took forgotten pieces of a fabric and brought them together to stitch something new, from something very old.

"Thank you again for the opportunity to create such an expression for such a people. And again, it has been my honor."

----Daniel Minter

Daniel Minter's paintings have been exhibited in Images of Eyes Gallery I since Dec 26, 2000.