An Onghena created this artwork on the occasion of the centenary of the Olympic Games, which took place in Antwerp in the Kiel neighborhood in 1920. In 2020, the district of Antwerp invited several artists (in addition to An Onghena also Matthijs De Block, Josja Devree and Sara Greet Gilis) to create a work for the public space of Kiel, inspired by the Olympic Games.
The steel sculpture “A 2020 Olympic Post Stamp” is based on a historic postage stamp issued in 1920 to celebrate the Games. Although they are less present in our daily lives than they once were, for decades stamps have been small but ubiquitous pieces of public visual culture. In “A 2020 Olympic Post Stamp”, Onghena refers to the futuristic, clean lines of the original stamp and the color palette of the poster of the 1920 Games.
The artist also had an official stamp made featuring her own design, broadening the scope of her public work. As a mail art project you can request a Yellow Postcard online, which will be delivered to you including the valid postage stamp. You can then return the postcard to An Onghena stating your greatest achievement. Go to www.olympicpoststamp.com to order the postcard for free.
Originally, “A 2020 Olympic Post Stamp” was presented on the lawn in the Wittestraat, next to the Kielpark Library. After the purchase of the artwork for the municipal public art collection (Kunst in de Stad) by the district of Antwerp, it was placed in the water basin in front of the library in November 2021.
An Onghena, A 2020 Olympic Poststamp © An Onghena
About An Onghena
An Onghena (1992, BE) was Artist in Residence at the Jan Van Eyck Academy, a diverse institute for art, design and reflection. She graduated in 2014 as MA graphic design at St Lucas School of Arts in Antwerp. In 2016, she continued her research-based practice at the postgraduate course Master of Research in Art & Design and became a laureate of Applied20 in Z33, Hasselt.
