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Sending all my love — Vintage Postcards from the Middle East
160 original postcards from North Africa, Egypt, Turkey and the Levant (1900-1940), the social media of their day, and the dreams of the 'Orient' they spread.
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A postcard sent from Mecca to France in the early 20th century shows the courtyard around the Ka'aba. The message on the back reads, in full, "Bonjour". Curator Peter Wandel reads it as an early post: I am here, I have arrived.
The show hangs 160 such cards from North Africa, Egypt, Turkey and the Levant, dated 1900 to 1940, in small black frames in a single room. Most were printed in Germany, England or France for the tourist trade, so the hand-coloured mosques, dancers and snake charmers are the "Orient" Europeans wanted to see. A corner of erotic studio cards is included, fairly chaste by Kulturkupeen's account. At the stands in the middle, you pick a couple of cards to take home. With PostNord no longer delivering letters in Denmark, keeping them is all a postcard can do here anyway.
Kulturkupeen gave it five stars for being fun, clear and jargon-free. Entry is free, and the museum stays open until 21:00 on Wednesdays.
Look for
The "Bonjour" card from Mecca
Look for the courtyard around the Ka'aba on the front and a one-word greeting to France on the back.
The take-home postcard stands
In the middle of the room, elegant card holders let each visitor choose a couple of postcards to keep.
The erotic postcard corner
Staged studio shots of the so-called "Oriental woman", a genre the museum says both fascinated buyers and fixed stereotypes.
Good for
- An Hour Or Less
- Cheap Culture
- Evening Visits
- Locals Who've Seen It All
Skip if
You came for the museum's treasures: these are everyday postcards, and the reviewer notes none are precious.
Also at The David Collection
On now nearby
Nearby
Image credits
9
- Sending all my love — Vintage Postcards from the Middle EastCourtesy of The David Collection
- Couples Therapy – Society on the couchCourtesy of SMK – National Gallery of Denmark
- Som Supaparinya: Reroute:© Som Supaparinya
- Jochen Lempert: Flora IncognitaCourtesy of Kunsthal Charlottenborg
- The David CollectionOrf3us / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
- Rosenborg CastleFalk2 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Natural History Museum of DenmarkOrigins DK / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
- SMK – National Gallery of DenmarkJiří Komárek / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Kunsthal CharlottenborgKevin Wallis / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0