Words by Jesse Serwer—
Reggae probably has the richest poster art tradition of any music culture. From the red, gold and green Bob Marley concert posters replicated on college students’ dorm rooms to the ubiquitous homemade dancehall signs which still abound in Jamaica’s public spaces, there is a colorful shadow history echoing that of the music it promotes. To celebrate and encourage the continuation of this folk art, Kingston-born poster designer Michael Thompson conceived of the First International Reggae Poster Contest. The call for submissions is open until March 30, after which the best posters will be collected into a book and, naturally, reproduced as posters. Designers are invited to design posters related to ska, rocksteady, roots reggae, dancehall, dub and sound systems. There are no cash prizes, but first place gets you a 16-gig iPad, Tougher Than Tough: The Story Of Jamaican Music and Bob Marley and the Wailers: Live Forever boxed sets and The Harder They Come DVD/CD packages (And second gets you all of that but the iPad). Artists, get drawing and enter your work here.