Thursday, June 9, 2011
350 HAND PAINTED MOVIE POSTERS FROM GHANA
With the arrival of video and video cassettes during 1980s In Ghana (West Africa) a small-scale film distribution / mobile Cinema was created. This small size mobile " Cinema " operators were equipped with a television a Video and some times with a small portable generator and were moving from town to town from village to village operating and showing their films! (During the day inside social clubs or houses and during the night in the open air).
In order to attract more customers and in order to advertise their mission and business the need of huge posters was created and born! Talented artists after viewing the film were creating large size posters using oil paint on canvas!
The artist had the freedom to add or change scenes seen or not seen in the film in order to make the poster more attractive! (This is the reason that this hand painted posters are more interesting as ART than the normal posters since each of this hand painted poster is UNIQUE! and except the film content it also express the artist him self!)
These posters were rolled or folded and easy to move around with the mobile Cinema. Because of the posters " hard " life (Folded or rolled, under the rain and sun and display for several months during their rounds all over Ghana) most of the surviving posters have damage at the end of the canvas, peelings, cracking and other damages.
By the mid 1990s the mobile Cinema business declined and almost collapsed since television and video was more widely available in Ghana. The profits of the mobile Cinema operators were also reduced ! and they were not able to afford the " expensive " talented artist to paint their signboards any more !!!! And at the present days they have to rely with Photocopy paper posters in order to survive and reduce cost!
By the mid 1990s the mobile Cinema business declined and almost collapsed since television and video was more widely available in Ghana. The profits of the mobile Cinema operators were also reduced ! and they were not able to afford the " expensive " talented artist to paint their signboards any more !!!! And at the present days they have to rely with Photocopy paper posters in order to survive and reduce cost!
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