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Ghana Artist Finds New Market for Hand-Painted Movie Posters

There is a long tradition in the African nation of Ghana of local artists painting movie posters to advertise films.

But as interest in local movie theaters continues to drop, Daniel Anum Jasper has found success selling his posters in other countries.

Jasper recently spoke¹ with reporters from Reuters from his studio workspace in Accra. He presented one of his current works², showing actor Paul Newman holding a pair of guns in a poster for the 1969 movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

He also showed unfinished paintings that included actors John Travolta and Bruce Lee.

Jasper was one of the country's first movie poster designers and has been doing the job for 30 years. From the late 1970s through the 1990s, Ghana developed a tradition of advertising³ films with colorful and descriptive hand-painted posters.

During that period, local movie theaters were extremely popular throughout the country. Artists competed over who could bring in the most people with their imaginative⁴ -- and often violent -- designs.

But over the years, the market for Jasper's work has greatly changed. With the rise of the internet, Ghana's independent theaters began to disappear.

"People are no longer interested in going out to watch a movie when it can be watched from the comfort of their phones," Jasper said. "But there is a growing interest in owning these hand-painted posters internationally," he added. "Now they hang them in private rooms or show them in exhibitions."

One market where Jasper's work has gained appeal is the United States, where the posters are valued as unusual representations⁵ of a specific period in African art.

Westerns and action movies were traditionally popular, as were Bollywood and Chinese films. Many of the posters included supernatural elements and extreme violence even if the films had none. And physical details of the actors were often exaggerated⁷.

Joseph Oduro-Frimpong is a pop culture expert and professor at Ghana's Ashesi University. He has been collecting movie posters for years and owns several of Jasper's paintings.

He plans to show his posters at the Centre for African Popular Culture when it opens at the university later this year. He said he hopes people will realize the historical importance of the posters.

"Of course there is an esthetic⁸ value to the posters -- how crazy it is and all of that," Oduro-Frimpong said. "But we use them to have a conversation with students."

"We tell them not to think about what they're seeing now... (but) to think of these art forms as symbols of history that can tell their own stories."

Words in This Story

poster – n. a large printed picture or advertisement that is placed on the wall

exhibition – n. an event at which objects such as paintings are shown to the public

supernatural – adj. things that cannot be explained by our knowledge of science or nature

exaggerate⁶ – v. to make something seem larger, better or worse than it actually is

esthetic – n. relating to beauty and the way something looks

symbol – n. a sign or object that is used to represent something

1 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

2 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。

3 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

4 imaginative   

adj.富有想象力的，爱想象的

参考例句：

• The imaginative child made up fairy stories.这个想像力丰富的孩子自己编神话故事。
• Scott was an imaginative writer.司格特是位富于想象力的作家。

5 representations   

n.陈述，投诉，抗议；表现( representation的名词复数 )；陈述；表现…的事物；有代理人

参考例句：

• Naturally, we tend to use old representations in our new environments. 同样很自然的，在新的环境里，我们习惯于采用旧的表达方式。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• They made representations to the college cook about the bad food. 他们向学校厨师抗议伙食太差。 来自辞典例句

6 exaggerate   

v.夸大，夸张

参考例句：

• If you exaggerate,people will no longer believe you.如果你说话虚夸，人们便不会相信你了。
• Don't exaggerate the difficulties of your work.别夸大你的工作困难。

7 exaggerated   

adj.言过其辞的

参考例句：

• Inevitably, the press exaggerated the story. 新闻界照例又夸大了这件事。
• His claims to an intimacy with the President are somewhat exaggerated. 他声称自己与总统关系密切，这有点言过其实。

8 esthetic   

adj.美学的，审美的；悦目的，雅致的

参考例句：

• That armchair is comfortable but not very esthetic.那张扶手椅坐起来舒服，但不太美观。
• There are physical distance and esthetic distance between the esthetic subject and the object.审美的主客体之间有物理距离和心理距离。