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ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A Croatian postage stamp exhibit that Visit Alexandria said is making its first appearance outside Croatia opened Monday night at the Torpedo Factory Art Center, where Alexandria Mayor Alyia Gaskins and Croatian Ambassador to the United States Pjer Šimunović framed the show not just as a cultural showcase but as the opening act of a months-long effort to turn an incoming World Cup partnership into a lasting friendship.
"Philately in Croatia: Exploring a Legacy of Innovation and Artistry" features roughly 20 large display panels reproducing rare Croatian stamps and tracing their history, presented jointly by the Croatian Post and Croatia's Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs. The exhibit runs through May 10 at 105 N. Union St. and is free to the public daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The opening reception drew Croatian and Alexandria officials including City Council member Canek Aguirre, City Manager Jim Parajon, the deputy city manager and senior city staff, along with business and gallery leaders and Elliot Gruber, director of the Smithsonian's National Postal Museum. Guests gathered among easels arrayed beneath string lights and purple uplighting in the Torpedo Factory's main hall, within view of the building's signature green torpedo.
Gaskins traced the city's incoming partnership with Croatia to a meeting with Šimunović a few months ago, when the two discussed Alexandria's role as the base camp for the Croatian national soccer team during the 2026 FIFA World Cup. "This is bigger than football," she said. True success, she added, would be measured by whether the team came to feel "like family" rather than guests in the city.
She described Monday's reception as the first in a summer-long series of cultural exchanges that will include watch parties, concerts and food events. "We're starting with the postage stamp," Gaskins said. "It's very small, but it's very powerful."
To make her point, the mayor told a personal story about her childhood best friend, Sarah, whom she met after switching schools in middle school. The two were different in nearly every way — race, religion, family background, neighborhood — but built a friendship that has now lasted more than 20 years because, Gaskins said, "we were genuinely curious about each other." She described the exhibit as an invitation to that same kind of curiosity between Alexandria and Croatia.
Šimunović picked up the thread, calling the partnership a chance for Croatia to "punch above our weight" — a phrase frequently used by Alexandria officials to describe their own city's outsized ambitions. The Croatian national team won bronze at the 2018 World Cup and silver in 2022, and the ambassador said gold "is not out of reach" in 2026.
He paused on the venue itself. The Torpedo Factory, the ambassador noted, takes its name from its days producing torpedoes for the U.S. Navy in both world wars — and the torpedo, he reminded the room, was a Croatian invention from the northern Adriatic city of Rijeka. The Luppis-Whitehead torpedo, designed in the 1860s, later "served the defense of democracy" when adopted by American forces, he said. One of the display panels is devoted to the invention.
Stamps, Šimunović said, are among the prerogatives of statehood, alongside a military, a head of state, a national airline and a national soccer team. He acknowledged that younger generations may not know what to do with an envelope, much less a stamp, but argued the small format still carries weight. "Through these small little things, you can get a glimpse of something bigger," he said, "which is the life of a nation."
Curated with text by Croatian Academician Željka Čorak, the exhibit is organized into themed sections covering Croatian statehood, history, ecology, the Adriatic coast, flora and fauna, philatelic prizes and "the most beautiful stamps." Featured panels include a 2022 commemorative honoring the 100th anniversary of the birth of Croatia's first president, Dr. Franjo Tuđman; stamps marking the 1,100th anniversary of the Kingdom of Croatia and the 900th anniversary of the Baška Tablet, one of the oldest known monuments written in the Croatian language; a 2019 stamp featuring soccer star Luka Modrić in his red-and-white checkered kit; and a panel on the cravat, the neckwear named after Croatian soldiers and known abroad as krawatte, corbata and gravata.
Since gaining independence in 1991, the Croatian Post has issued more than 1,600 stamps, according to exhibit materials, several of which have won international design awards.
The Alexandria stop, billed in advance press materials as "Discover Croatia: A Journey Through Tiny Windows of History," is according to Visit Alexandria the first time the exhibit has traveled outside Croatia. It will remain on view through Sunday, May 10.
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