Telegram met gelukwensen, 1928 1928

This telegram ‘met gelukwensen’, or with congratulations, was created in 1928 by the Dutch postal service. I love the material qualities, the faded paper with its official stamps, the layered typography. It’s a functional object, but also beautiful in its details. Look at the handwriting, how the ink bleeds slightly into the paper, each stroke a record of a physical gesture. It’s like a drawing, a script of someone’s hand moving across the page. The stamps, with their bold red colour and geometric forms, punctuate the surface. They remind me of early modernist collages, like Kurt Schwitters, using found materials to create something new. What I find fascinating about this piece is how it elevates the mundane. It turns an everyday object into a historical artifact, a testament to a specific moment in time. It reminds us that art can be found in the most unexpected places, in the simplest of forms.