10/12/2023
International Philatelic Exhibition BALKANPHILA XIX opened
The international philatelic exhibition Balkanphila XIX, hosted by the Union of Philatelists of Serbia and PE Post of Serbia, under the honorary patronage of the President of the Republic of Serbia, officially opened today in the House of the Serbian Army in Belgrade.
Philatelists and exhibitors from 12 countries were greeted by Adviser to the President of the Republic of Serbia Dejan Savić, President of the Union of Philatelists of Serbia Nikola Ljubičić, Peter Suhadolc in front of the International Academy of Philatelists and Director of the Post of Serbia Zoran Đorđević.
At the largest exhibition of philately in Serbia and the region so far, visitors were presented with almost 600 showcases with philatelic exhibits on which postage stamps and postcards were placed on a wide variety of topics: motifs of Vojvodina, Varaždin philately, Herceg Novi on postcards, Macedonia through the ages, steam locomotives of the Balkans and many others.
Over 150 exhibitors from the entire region were represented in 11 competitive classes. Award winners during the Balkanphila International Exhibition came from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia and Turkey. In addition, the presidents and representatives of the philatelic associations of all mentioned countries, national commissioners from the entire region, the international jury, and representatives of the International and European Federation of Philatelists were at the exhibition.
On Friday, the Grand Prix will be awarded for the best exhibit, for which the work of local artist Petar Popović Piros called "AZBUKA" was selected. The central theme of the work is the Cyrillic alphabet, that is, Cyrillic graffiti that combines the art of traditional calligraphy and modern graffiti.
Balkanphila XIX is a sort of return of philately to Serbia and a flywheel that will move many to dedicate themselves to the study of postage stamps, with the mission of strengthening and developing cooperation and friendship between philatelists of countries in the region.
After the official opening, the Director of the Post of Serbia, Zoran Đorđević, and the Executive Director of the Post of Montenegro, Josip Đurašković, signed an agreement on the transfer of items from the collection of the PTT Museum – the uniform of the director of military telegraphs in Montenegro, Đuro Šoć, from 1909, to the Post of Montenegro for use, since the Post of Montenegro is collecting a museological fund, with the intention of establishing its own museum collection.