I’m so excited about these new postcards and posters I discovered! The brand is called Etniks, and the message of this concept really resonates with me. Etniks produces postcards and large prints depicting cute and quirky illustrations of different ethnic people in their traditional or current dress. Due to globalization and modernization a lot of us dress similar, and our cultural heritage is visually lost. Etniks strives to celebrate the traditional dresses and cultural backgrounds, and also attempts to make us more aware of, and educate us about, different cultures.
When you buy a card or print, you’ll find a link on the back that takes you to their website. On the website you can look up your print to find out more about the culture, the country and the dress. Naturally I bought a print of a Surinamese woman, since both my parents are from Surinam. I put it next to my Surinamese stamp collection. [continue reading after photo]
This is what the website says about my ‘Koto Missie’: Surinamese Creole people are the inhabitants of Suriname with one or more ancestors of Black African descent. The Surinamese Creole culture is a fusion of various African cultures with indigenous and European influences. The traditional garment of the Creoles in Suriname, the koto with the anjisa (in special way tied headscarf). This costume is still worn on festive occasions.
Especially for the abdication of the Dutch queen on April 30th, Etniks has also designed three limited edition prints of the queen, prince and princess. To shop your own, visit the website here listing stores in the Netherlands and web shops.
