IRPC 2018
International Reggae Poster Contest
Founded By: Michael Thompson & Maria Papaefstathiou
The International Reggae Poster Contest was established in 2011 by the Jamaican designer Michael Thompson and Greek designer Maria Papaefstathiou to help redefine the visual language of reggae, and to shine a creative spotlight on the music’s positive global impact. The term ‘Reggae’ to them represents all the popular Jamaican genres: Ska, Rocksteady, Roots Reggae, Dub, Dancehall and the unique Jamaican Sound System. As the world-famous reggae band ‘Third World’ rightly sings, “How can a BIG music come from a little Island?”
It is their recognition of what reggae has achieved globally that led them to launch this International Reggae Poster Contest. Reggae is no longer just a Jamaican music. It now belongs to the whole world. It’s a music that brings people together. The theme of the contest, ‘Toward a Reggae Hall of Fame: Celebrating Great Jamaican Music’, is the mantra that drives their work and the embedded message in the contest and the exhibition.
Another grand vision of the contest is to celebrate the amazing Jamaican institution, Alpha Boys’ School, which nurtured this music. Alpha Institute is a non-profit vocational and general educational school for at-risk boys and young men from Kingston’s impoverished inner-city communities.
The International Reggae Poster Contest has organized 21 exhibitions around the world under the name ‘The Art of Reggae’. In August 3-5, 2018, they will have the pleasure to exhibit for the first time the posters in Germany at the Reggae Jam Festival.