Atte Ourie from Helsinki is known for his enigmatic works. The two cards he sent to Vienna are no exception. Maybe they show a pirate’s treasure map which you can’t understand, until you solve seven riddles and cast three dangerous spells. Maybe they hint towards a part of the Kalevala that has been overlooked byContinue reading “Finnish Puzzles”
Category Archives: mail art
Children of the World
Yesterday saw the opening of the mail art exhibition Bambini nel mondo – Children in the World curated by Renata di Palma with works of 57 artists. Part of the event was a presentation of Daniela Minerbi’s fable Gino e Margherita by the artist Sarah Mutinelli. The show runs from 1 to 26 June inContinue reading “Children of the World”
A Card from Down Under
A beautiful card from Tasmania reached Vienna last week. You can see the appropriate title on the left side: Pamela Parks’ collage has traveled 16,216.34 km (10,076.36 mi) in one month to make us feel connected. Thus, it made roughly 540 km per day. Pamela, who has been to Austria, mentions that she is a photographer asContinue reading “A Card from Down Under”
On the Outside
Senza traccia / Without a trace is the title of a mail art exhibition in Casole d’Elsa, a municipality in the Province of Siena in the region Tuscany. The aim of the show is to draw attention to persons that are isolated and marginalized. The works cover a broad variety of art forms like drawings, photography and poetry andContinue reading “On the Outside”
Natural Beauty
The mail art call bellezza (beauty) is part of a series cultural and artistic projects named voci di notte (voices of the night) of the echorama A.P.S. association. The theme which includes all the possible meanings of beauty was chosen to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the ratification of the World Heritage Convention, adopted byContinue reading “Natural Beauty”
By Chance
Melanie Reed from Seattle loves to produce hand-crafted media that reveals the three-dimensional process of its creation. Her excellent paper collages Meeting of Minds and Ship of State II reached me, while I was reading a book about Max Ernst who developed the three-dimensonal techniques grattage (scraping the surface layers of paint) and frottage (incorporating the structuresContinue reading “By Chance”
Speaking in many Tongues
The language school Escuela Oficial de Idiomas de Carabanchel in Madrid was looking for contributions to the theme learning languages. Gerald’s card includes references to four great works of literature: the Odyssey, The Cid, Beowulf and the Finnish epic Kalevala. On the right side is a scan of the colorful confirmation of participation in theContinue reading “Speaking in many Tongues”
Strange Creature
This one was sent to Melanie Reed in the USA. It’s once again a coproduction of Gabriele and Gerald. Looking closely at the drawing, they decided that the pink animal is not a quadruped, but a triped that happens to have four legs. Well. and deep thoughts of this kind can only be expressed inContinue reading “Strange Creature”
Demonology
Back in 2020, when we were confronted with COVID-19 for the first time, most of us were confused and scared. Although we tried to – and most of us did – to approach the pandemic in a rational way, we harbored all kinds of fears related to the virus. The Alianza Cultural para las ArtesContinue reading “Demonology”
Colorfull Collages
Two wonderful collages from Seattle reached Vienna on the last day of March. They are works of Melanie Reed, titled New Year’s Eve and Object Lesson. Both images – Melanie calls them “unlikely art visions” – show a strong tension between a static central object and a background filled with colorful objects moving in a variety of directions.
Supplement to 2021
Sometimes things disappear on hard disks. Eventually, they turn up again. This happened to two works of Felipe Lamadrid which reached Austria in June 2021. They were scanned, they were prepared for publication – and then they somehow slipped into the wrong folder. They reappeared a few days ago, and therefore they can finally beContinue reading “Supplement to 2021”
From Ukraine to Russia
The Arnolfini Archívum’s challenge no. 58 for Mini[e]MailArt is “packages”. And although this motto leaves ample possibilities for artistic interpretations, I felt that the Russian assault on the Ukraine could not be ignored. This is why: Russia’s supreme Leader Vladimir Putin calls the war on Ukraine a “special military operation”. Thus, he continues the traditionContinue reading “From Ukraine to Russia”
El viaje concluido
La vida de Dante Alighieri era un viajar constante, un viaje inacabado e indeciso entre una nostalgia paradójica por la ciudad de Florencia, que amaba y odiaba a la vez. En el año 2021, se conmemoraron los 700 años del fallecimiento de Dante Alighieri. Es cuando mail art convocó a un viaje imaginario, para dar tributo aContinue reading “El viaje concluido”
About Kids
Children in the world is the theme of an Italian mail art project, organized by the cultural association Kunst Grenzen – Arte di Frontiera and curated by the artist Renata di Palma. Gabriele took part with a watercolor painting named bambini. When asked about the background of her work, she says that children need anContinue reading “About Kids”
A Mixed Lot from Italy
Bruno Cassaglia from Quiliano, a small town in the province Savona, sent a mixed lot of things. He included a text that proved rather enigmatic. It starts with the lines Quanti cieli oltre i cieli posso pensare?Quali altri universi impermiabili?Solo Dio lo sasolosolosolo mi sento solo Translated: How many skies beyond the skies can IContinue reading “A Mixed Lot from Italy”
Infierno reciente
“El viaje de Dante. ¿Quién lo ha visto? fue una convocatoria de arte correo organizada por el Grupo de Tartarugacorreo y Stella Maris Velasco. En Marzo de 2022 llegaron a Argentina 140 obras de artistas de 30 países. La primera muestra, realizada por Maya López Muro, fue expuesta en el Museo de Arte Contemporáneo “BeatoContinue reading “Infierno reciente”
Last Home
This large card is a work of Raphael Nadolny, who lives in the small Polish town of Mosina. The picture shows a catholic priest visiting a jewish cemetery in 1946. Nadolny calls the photocopy with colored gravestones an archeology of culture.
Hungarian Online Gallery
Ervin Zsubori, the mastermind behind Arnolfini’s Archives, is a man for all seasons: artist, photographer, economist, sociologist, journalist, poet and more. In the mail art community he is known for his collections on Arnolfini Mini[e]MailArt. He regularly sends out organizes online exhibitions based on themed calls. They are quite challenging because the solutions have toContinue reading “Hungarian Online Gallery”
mail your art 