Belgium, 20 November 2000

Two new stamp series

On 20 November 2000 Belgium issued two new stamp series: Christmas & New Year en The Twentieth Century.

Christmas & New Year

For the design of the Christmas & New Year stamp of the year 2000, the Belgian post appealed to the inventiveness of mentally disabled persons.
In 1999 the Belgian post contacted institutions for people with mental disabilities, requesting them to ask their residents to make a design for a stamp. As a result of this the post received 2,337 entries from 250 institutions. After much deliberation, the work sent by Bart Meurs from Hasselt was chosen.
The Christmas stamp is issued in a sheet of 20 stamps.

Stamps in detail

Value: 17 fr.
Size: 27.66 x 40.20 mm.
Design: Bart Meurs.

The Twentieth Century

Another sheet of twenty stamps depicts on important moments of war & peace and influential artists. This sheet is part of a prestigious set honoring important facts and people of the 20th century.
The Twentieth Century

20th century

The first part is a probing evocation of the scourge of war and some important events that were a source of new hope: World War I and II, Vietnam and the Middle East.
The 20th century also marked a real revolution in the arts. Modernism brought us completely new forms of painting, sculpture, architecture, drama, dance and music. Many movements succeeded each other rapidly.