Sunday, July 11, 2010

RAKAM Magazine

RAKAM is an Italian needlework magazine which started up in 1930. In the year when it should be celebrating it's 80th birthday, it has had quite a shakeup.


Many non-Italian speaking readers who either can purchase it at a local newsstand or have a subscription might be wondering what has happened to it.


Instead of being a celebratory year for RAKAM this year has been dogged with much rumour and speculation so I will try to only state facts that I personally know to be true.


The April 2010 issue was the last RAKAM issue under the publishing company Edizioni Mimosa which was in liquidation. The new publisher, Guido Veneziani Editore, took over the name RAKAM only. This means all subscription records are not available to them and so they have no way of contacting subscribers to the previous publisher. If you stopped receiving your magazines that is why.


As you can well imagine this has upset many faithful subscribers to RAKAM and undoubtedly the other magazines that Edizioni Mimosa published. If you tried to contact them through their website in the last few months your web browser probably warned you that the site was infected with a virus.


Last year I visited the offices where production of RAKAM was executed in Milan. I know that the women I talked to then are no longer with the company. This includes the brilliant illustrator who drew those comprehensive stitch and pattern diagrams.


My own subscription to RAKAM coincidentally was due for renewal in May of this year and I had already chosen not to renew it due to increasing costs for overseas subscriptions. I have held a subscription since 2001 and am very sorry to not be getting it anymore as it has always been full of eye-candy and inspiration for me.


I am told the May 2010 issue of RAKAM was a bit of recycled articles but that the June 2010 issue showed promise although photo quality was not the best. I have not seen them.

The July 2010 issue however carries a letter to readers which a kind Italian lady typed out for me and which I have translated for you here:

Dearest Readers,
The publisher
Guido Veneziani Editore has purchased only the name RAKAM from Edizioni Mimosa in liquidation. They have not, therefore, assumed commitment for any previous contracts with Edizioni Mimosa. This also holds true for subscriptions which GVE has no possibility of dispatching, not being in possession of the subscription files.
However to us at
GVE it does not seem right to disappoint the readers of a magazine with so much history and so many loyal customers. Therefore we have decided to send, free of charge, the number of issues owed for the previous subscriptions with the other publisher. To this end, we invite you to contact our Subscriptions office at 02 58205207 from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm and from 3 pm to 4 pm Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
We take this opportunity to remind you that every week you can find
Guido Veneziani Editore’s weekly news magazines on the newsstands: Vero, Top, Stop and Vera as well as the monthly Vero Cucina and Vero Salute.
With fondest regards,

Guido Veneziani, Publisher
Elio Michelotti, Director

Interesting to note here that the new Director of RAKAM and the Director of Ricamo Italiano, another Italian needlework magazine are now the same person.

Here is an email address which might be of use to you, it is for the subscription office: abbonamenti@gveditore.com

I couldn't find any cover art for any 1940s editions which is why there are only 7 photos!

18 comments:

  1. What a bad new!
    That's why I couldn't find the magazine where I always got it...
    I even couldn't got that last April magazine.Can't imagine such a thing!
    Is there any hope having the same director of Ricamo Iataliano? WWhat do you think?
    I'm really sad

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  2. Meri,
    The Director used to be the Vice-Director of RAKAM before he went to Ricamo Italiano so I think it will be fine but time will tell!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Do you know if there are back issues available anywhere? I am a quilt historian researching a medieval patchwork cushion and was informed that Rakam had printed an article about it sometime in the early 1990s. Thank you in advance!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have few numbers of old RAKAM's issues and issue from luglio 2002 (ANO LXXIII) has an article(pages 28-33) about patchwork cushion titled "Il cuscino del Vescovo' (A Firenze una mostra straordinaria di cuscini patchwork) - PATCHWORK DA MUSEO (Museo della Basilica di Santa Maria all'Impruneta) about Italian monastery which has collection of patchwork cushions.
      There is no lots of text than mostly photos of patchwork cushions. Maybe you can find something about that monastery's Museum at Internet.
      If you despertly need that photos, please send me an e-mail and I'll take photos of that RAKAM's pages and send them to you. I say 'despertly' becouse I currently have no camera, so I have to ask my friend to do that for me.

      http://izabela-kolar-furjan.myopenid.com/

      Delete
  4. Ellid,
    They do not have back issues available.
    :-(
    If you can find out which issue you need I can check around among friends to see if anyone has it. I only have a few 1990s issues but I can check too. Can you give me more specific info?

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  5. HI HOW CAN I HAVE THIS MAGAZINE MONTHLY
    I AM IN LEBANON
    THANKS

    ReplyDelete
  6. You could try writing to:

    Guido Veneziani Editore SRL
    Via Bertani 6
    20154, Milano (MI),
    Tel: (02) 582051
    Email: info@gveditore.com

    ReplyDelete
  7. I am selling back issues on ebay from the 90's. I may have them priced too high, if they do not sell, I will lower the price. I started with 5 issues just to see. I have about 30. If you are looking for a particular issue, please contact me through ebay. thanks, tookee1024

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  8. I love Rakam!!!
    Here in Brazil, we found many old editions!

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  9. Bonjour,

    Je souhaite abonner à votre beau magasine une vieille dame habitant en France. Comment dois-je m'y prendre ? Merci.

    Michel Branger
    12, rue Auguste Comte
    F-37000 TOURS
    m.branger37@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  10. Re bonjour,

    J'ai commis une erreur ce matin. Mon email est le suivant : mbranger37@gmail.com.

    Je vous prie de m'excuser.

    Michel Branger
    12, rue Auguste Comte
    F-37000 TOURS
    mbranger37@gmail.com

    Je souhaite toujours savoir comment s'abonner à votre magasine.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Michel,
    Rakam n'est pas mon magazine, essayez d'écrire à:

    Guido Veneziani Editore SRL
    Via Bertani 6
    20154, Milano (MI),
    Tel: (02) 582051
    Email: info@gveditore.com

    Bonne chance!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Merci beaucoup pour votre information. Je vais envoyer un courrier à l'adresse indiquée.
    Encore merci.
    Michel Branger

    ReplyDelete
  13. in America, we just saw an old issue of Rakam; now I have to tell my friends,. the magazine is out of print. yow. I guess Globalization has destroyed arts and crafts in every country, not just America!! I cannot believe they can;'t make a profit off this magazine, since everyone wants it,.and they still decide to get rid of it. Just like Japanese- made Sony t.v.s....you can;'t get the same thing, like them. anymore. They take 25 or 30 yrs. to wear out,.but if you buy a new tv now, it falls apart soon. oh, well, thanks to this blog writer!!--Dorothy in America

    ReplyDelete
  14. I picked up the September 2013 issue of RAKAM when I was in Italy last October so the magazine is definitely not out of print. The address listed in the credits is: Elio Michelotti, Via M. L. King 13, 25020 Dello (BS) Italy.

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  15. Lamento não encontrar à venda esta publicação, gostaria de saber se não é possível fazer assinatura. Ainda hoje guardo alguns dos exemplares que ajudaram a fazer trabalhos para as minhas filhas.

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  16. Como puedo conseguir la revista mensualmente

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  17. Rosa, you can try emailing: c.dinardo@edizionivero.it

    ReplyDelete