Mohammed Racim’s Musician Stamps (1965)

This post features Mohammed Racim’s musician stamps made for Algeria in 1965. Racim was a celebrated miniaturist painter who made a set of three stamps, including the two musician stamps, that year. The following year (1966), another set of three stamps continued to celebrate the work of this important artist. In particular, the musical instruments and other objects on the stamps are meant to provide a common identity to Algerian people. Establishing a common identity and pride in it are vital for a new country. The imagery used on postage stamps are one way to help accomplish these tasks.

Mohammed Racim (1896-1975)

Mohammed Racim was born into a family of artists and his talent was recognized at an early age. He became a master of the traditional art of miniature paintings, before relocating to Paris for a training in western art. Later, Racim developed a career and a reputation for his work combining the techniques of his native North Africa along with his French training. He has been celebrated by art historians as the founder of a modern tradition of painting in Algeria.

For most of Racim’s early life, Algeria was under the control of France. It was only in 1962 that the African country gained its independence. I find stamps of newly independent countries to be very interesting, as they represent how new leaders chose to present the identity of the country. They have to choose subjects and a design that will help to unite the population. I recently wrote another post about a stamp issued by Ghana featuring when they gained their independence from Britain.

The stamps dedicated to the miniatures of Racim show that he was already a respected artist and that Algeria was proud of his work. Although early on his work was considered a success by the colonial French (he had an exhibit in Paris in 1936), later he was very much interpreted as an Algerian nationalist. Tragically, Racim and his wife were murdered in 1975.

The Stamps

The first of the two stamps I purchased features two men sitting cross legged and facing each other. The two men play traditional stringed instruments, the player on the left plays an oud, a type of lute found throughout North Africa and much of the Middle East. It is an ancient instrument and the predecessor of the European lute. The musician on the right plays a rebab, a small bowed string instrument with a wooden body and a skin belly. It too is an ancient instrument and was probably the predecessor of the European rebec, which in turn became an important antecedent to the violin. Along with these musicians are other traditional items of Algeria, including what looks like a tea service and a hookah pipe. Both this stamp and the next one feature traditional style geometric decoration and calligraphy.

The second stamp features two women also sitting cross legged and facing each other, though they each sit in a doorway divided by a column. The women are playing drums, which have traditionally been played by women in Mediterranean cultures for thousands of years.

The woman on the left plays a small frame drum with jingles, known as a riq, or tambourine. The woman on the right plays a drum with a goblet-shaped body called a darbuka. As with the above stamp featuring stringed instrument, there are other traditional objects on the stamp. For instance, on this stamp there is a bowl of fruit, a vase of flowers, and a tea service. Geometric figures and calligraphy decorate the borders of the stamps. The two stamps make an eye catching pair of stamps representing the new country of Algeria.

Non-musical stamp

The third stamp in the series doesn’t have a musical subject. Instead, it is a beautiful image of a woman with a deer. The three miniatures make a beautiful addition to any collection.

To close, here is an example of the riq, like the one in the second stamp above. Glen Velez is an extraordinary musician, so enjoy this great performance.