IN JAMAICA: Reggae Poster Contest Opens On Int'l Reggae Day...."Over the contest's two years there have been over 2000 entries from 90 countries."...on July 1 there will be yet another combination of sight and sound

Mel Cooke, Gleaner Writer Published: Sunday | May 18, 2014 

In an age where music is as much seen as heard, on July 1 there will be yet another combination of sight and sound in the long history of Jamaican popular music.

Ambassador to the United States, His Excellency Stephen Vasciannie
(right), listens attentively as member of the International Reggae
Poster Contest (IRPC), Kathryn Buford (centre), explains the
 significance of one of the posters on display at the
 Embassy of Jamaica last year. Looking on (at left)
 is founder of the IRPC, Michael Thompson. -Photo by JIS

One side of the union - International Reggae Day (IRD) - has a much longer track record, having been started in 1994 by Andrea Davis ofJamaica Arts Holdings. New kid on the block is the International Reggae Poster Contest (IRPC), started by Jamaican graphic artist Michael Thompson and Greek designer Maria Papaefstathiou in 2011.

In this case, though, age is not a marker of imbalance. And it is not a coincidence that both have 'international' and 'reggae' in their names. So when IRD is celebrated on July 1 this year, it will also mark the opening of entries to the IRPC.

"It is an international contest and we are reaching out to the world in terms of content. It seems natural that we strengthen our impact with Reggae Day and it can also spread the word in Jamaica," Thompson said.

Normally entries to the IRPC would be opened much later in the year. Thompson said over the contest's two years there have been over 2000 entries from 90 countries. In the first year there were about 30 submissions from Jamaica. That fell dramatically to single digit figures last year. Underscoring the low Jamaican submissions, Thompson said there were 100 entries from Iran.

Still, one of the Jamaican entrants, Tahj Francis, earned a fifth-place finish.

Israeli Alon Braier's winning entry in
the first International Reggae Poster
 Competition.-Contributed

Not only does Thompson hope for a rekindled Jamaican interest in 2014, he also has a long-term intention for the IRPC which is conceptualised as a sight to behold. The IRPC organisers intend to establish a museumspace celebrating Jamaican music in Kingston.

"You can get people to go to Jamaica to a reggae museum," Thompson said, noting that the building itself, in terms of its design, would be a part of that pull. more