—Alexander von Humboldt (1767-1859)

Thanks to Erik Spiekermann for the apt quotable…

—Scottish Proverb

Winnipeg, Manitoba

Canada Post today released the commemorative stamp (designed by Circle) featuring the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, one month before the building opens. The museum is located near the Forks National Historic Site in downtown Winnipeg, a meeting place dating back thousands of years at the junction of the Assiniboine and Red rivers. It is the first national museum to be built since 1967, the first ever to be located outside of the National Capital Region, and the first museum in the world solely dedicated to the evolution, celebration, and future of human rights.

The ceremonial stamp unveiling took place at the west base of the Esplanade Riel pedestrian bridge on Mahatma Gandhi Way, and was covered by various local and national media outlets (e.g. here, here, here, and here).

“Canada Post’s stamps tell stories of our history, our heritage and our Canadian identity. The Canadian Museum for Human Rights will invite the world to reflect on human rights struggles – both inspiring and tragic – and encourage action for a better future. This stamp commemorates a symbol of our global human rights aspirations, told through a uniquely Canadian lens,” says Deepak Chopra, President and CEO, Canada Post.

The Canadian Museum for Human Rights permanent rate stamp measures 40 mm x 40 mm and is available in booklets of 10 stamps. An Official First Day Cover has also been issued, measuring 191 mm x 113 mm and cancelled in Winnipeg. The stamps can be purchased at any Canadian Post Office or ordered here.

Stamp design direction : Alain Leduc, Canada Post (Ottawa)
Creative direction : Robert L. Peters, Circle Design Incorporated
Graphic design : Adrian Shum, Circle Design Incorporated
Photography : Mike Grandmaison
Printing : Lowe-Martin Group (Ottawa)

Images above : The stamp, booklet, and official first day cover; Adrian Shum and Robert L. Peters at the unveiling ceremony.

Erik Spiekermann’s latest letterpress poster…

—Epicurus (341 BC – 270 BC)

‘Quote of the Month’ by Chaz Maviyane-Davies

© François Caspar, 2001

Also, found people find people. And, loved people love people.

(More than one lesson in all that).

—Confucius

“I am a battery hen. I live in a cage so small I cannot stretch my wings. I am forced to stand night and day on a sloping wire mesh floor that painfully cuts into my feet. The cage walls tear my feathers, forming blood blisters that never heal. The air is so full of ammonia that my lungs hurt and my eyes burn and I think I am going blind. As soon as I was born, a man grabbed me and sheared off part of my beak with a hot iron, and my little brothers were thrown into trash bags as useless alive.”

“My mind is alert and my body is sensitive and I should have been richly feathered. In nature or even a farmyard I would have had sociable, cleansing dust baths with my flock mates, a need so strong that I perform ‘vacuum’ dust bathing on the wire floor of my cage. Free, I would have ranged my ancestral jungles and fields with my mates, devouring plants, earthworms, and insects from sunrise to dusk. I would have exercised my body and expressed my nature, and I would have given, and received, pleasure as a whole being. I am only a year old, but I am already a ‘spent hen.’ Humans, I wish I were dead, and soon I will be dead. Look for pieces of my wounded flesh wherever chicken pies and soups are sold.”

―Karen Davis

(Thanks to Chaz Maviyane-Davies for the poster).