Artist Amina Tamer Illustrates Modern Egypt Through Post Stamps

Rummaging through our grandparents' old files, or through the many boxes of scraps at antique souqs, we inevitably find ancient relics from the days when people used to, you know, actually write letters. We would find notebooks filled with tiny 2x3 cm pieces of art. Some were predictable, like the ones that had presidents’ faces on them, the Egyptian flag, or an army tank, but others were more creative, carrying tiny but beautiful paintings of natural attractions, or a clay jug, or even a cat.

These antique collections are fun to look at, but they don’t really reflect the Egypt we live in today. People stopped writing letters, and so post stamps, the small squares that have carried miniature elements of our culture for thousands of years, became obsolete. Amina Tamer, the Egyptian artist and graphic designer whose work has recently been circulating online, begs to differ; post stamps don’t have to be reduced to antiques.

“For my pre-master’s project, I wanted to create a cultural project that showcased not only my illustration skills but also my graphic design skills,” Amina Tamer tells CairoScene. “And I needed a medium that allowed me to experiment with a variety of styles while still adhering to the concept. At the same time, stamps always had my interest, because of their diverse colours, illustrations, typography, layout, size, and the cultures they represent.”

Like her inspiration, the stamps Tamer comes up with are diverse. Sometimes, they show a tiny colourful picture of a donkey pulling a cart, a black and white apartment building, or the storefront of a juice shop. At other times, it’s a portrait of a band the country loves. Tamer’s art reflects how scattered, and thereby diverse, the concept of Egyptian culture has become.

“It always begins with an idea, theme, or concept that I continue to explore until it’s expanded into layouts and illustrations, and then I reach something.” At completion, Tamer’s projects are always vibrant, loud, crowded. “I try to design projects that are pleasant, sincere, and make you feel lively and genuine. I have to feel them in my heart.”

Even in other projects, like the storybook she made of ‘Siwa’s Narrative of Love’, inspired by the hidden love story of someone she met on a trip to Siwa, Tamer seems to look on the bright side. She illustrates an Egypt that’s bursting with colour, with kitschy patterns like the one we see when we leave our houses every day. Perhaps we should be handwriting letters again.