EXPO 98

Motif: "Gajeta falkuša", the fishing boat Falkuša from Komiža. Croatian Post and Telecommunications sells the commemorative First Day Cover FDC and the First Day Souvenir Sheet. The World Exhibition EXPO 98 in Lisbon is the last exhibition in this century and the first one with the participation of the Republic of Croatia as an independent state. The United Nations proclaimed the year 1998 the World Year of the Ocean, on the occassion of the 500th Anniversary of the discovery of India (Vasco da Gama, 1498). This is why the EXPO 98 is a theme exhibition with the basic theme "Seas, oceans, heritage for the future". On the premises of its pavilion at the World Exhibition, the Republic of Croatia is presenting its cultural-scientific and economic project, as an Adriatic, Mediterranean, maritime and tourist country. The Croatian National Board of the World Exhibition EXPO 98 has chosen the one-decked half-masted fishing boat Falkuša to present the shipbuilding and maritime tradition of the Croats at the Ship Festival of the EXPO 98 in Lisbon, to be exhibitited outside the pavilion premises. The Falkuša is a traditional fishing boat, characteristic of the fishermen’s community of Komiža on the island of Vis. By presenting the Croatian heritage of wooden shipbuilding in the form of the fishing boat Falkuša, we hope that the story of the small boat, that has for centuries represented the aspiration of the small fishermen’s community, and the saving of the ancient arts and skills from sinking into oblivion, will help take care of the identity of our own cultural environment, and will thus enrich the national, together with the complete world cultural heritage.