Taipei 2008

From Lionel Savins, Australian Commissioner

This Exhibition, the 21st Asian International Stamp Exhibition, under FIAP patronage, was held in the Taipei World trade Centre Exhibition Hall 3 for 5 days, from 7th to 11th March 2008.  It was a very successful Exhibition, with large crowds in attendance every day.  A Philatelic Passport was available for the Exhibition, and numbers of these could be seen at any time being stamped and cancelled at the various Postal Administration stands.

Apart from Chungwa (Taiwan) Post, which was very strongly represented at the Exhibition, there were 62 stands for Postal Administrations and Dealers. A high proportion of these stands were Asian oriented, as would be expected, but Shields Stamps and Sydney Stamp Centre were there, together with others such as Christoph Gartner, Peter Singer and John Bull Stamp Auctions.

The Exhibition Hall was huge, with space for all activities to take place without interfering with the general flow of people through the place.  There were 100 frames of exhibits, with Australia well represented with 53 frames.  The frames were in straight lines, supported by A-frames between them, the angled faces making them easy to view.  They were double sided 16 sheet frames.  Access to the frames was very easy, since there was a space of some 3 metres between the rows.  The frames were set up in blocks of 10, with 4 blocks to a row, except when a building column got in the way (not very often).

The Grand Prix Awards, for the various categories, were as follows:

Grand Prix d'Honneur:  Prakob Chirakiti - Siam Classic: the First Issue
Grand Prix International:  Prakit Foongvanich - King-Vajiravudh Rama VI and King Prajadhipoik Rama VII
Grand Prix National:  Huang Ming-Jeng - Imperial China-19th Century Postal History

The APF Prize was awarded to the best Youth Exhibit - Norasert Siriarporntham for his Olympic Games entry.

Australian Exhibitor Results were:

Geoffrey Lewis Philippines 1775-1878 - Mail Routes  [Championship Class - 8 frames] Large Gold
Geoff Kellow Sierra Leone - Sterling Issues of QEII, 1953-64  [Traditional - 5 frames] Vermeil [83]
Geoffrey Lewis New Orleans Postal History - Stampless Mail  [Postal History - 5 frames] Gold [90]
Ian McMahon Queensland Revenue Stamps  [Revenues - 5 frames] Vermeil [84]
Len Wenitong ATM - The Other Postage Stamp  [Traditional - 5 frames] Silver [72]
Michael Blinman NSW - Lettersheets, Envelopes, Wrappers, P'cards  [Postal Stationery - 5 frames] Large Vermeil [88] +SP
Gary Brown South Africa Airletters, Aerogrammes to 1961  [Postal Stationery - 5 frames] Vermeil [80]
Anthony Presgrave Departmental Stamps of South Australia  [Traditional - 5 frames] Large Vermeil [86]
Glen Stafford BNG & Papua Lakatoi Definitives 1901-1032  [Traditional - 5 frames] Vermeil [83]
Jeff Trinidad Latvia, 1918-1923  [Traditional - 5 frames] Vermeil [82]

[ Journal Coverage:  APF News, July 2008 ]