Clash of Empires: The 1879 Anglo-Zulu War Exhibition

When British and Colonial forces invaded the Zulu Kingdom on 11 January 1879, they ignited one of the most famous conflicts of the Victorian era. In July 2023, the Spear Museum of Philatelic History at the Royal Philatelic Society London will host a public exhibition displaying more than 500 postal, historical, and cultural objects exploring the context, history, and ongoing legacy of this Clash of Empires. The exhibition’s narrative will begin in the early years of the 19th century with the emergence of King Shaka kaSenzangakhona and the rise of the Zulu Kingdom and go all the way through to 2019, 140 years after the start of the 1879 Anglo-Zulu War. The depth and scope of this context philately exhibition is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to see the intertwined stories of this important history told through hundreds of artefacts.

The exhibition will open to the public on 1 July 2023 and remain open, Monday-Saturday, to 31 July 2023. The exhibition will be free admission, pre-registration required.

Clash of Empires promo video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBxb4PV2OVo

Details on the exhibition website: http://clashofempires.org

The upcoming issue of Post Horn Magazine will publish in Italian a 14-page article with the same title “Scontro tra Imperi: La guerra Anglo-Zulu” (i.e. Clash of Empires: The Anglo-Zulu War) by Alexander Haimann, the researcher and collector of Anglo-Zulu history and the exhibition curator.