The International Reggae Poster Contest and VP Records are pleased to announce the top 100 winners of our limited-edition poster competition on human trafficking, ”Shadows After Dark.”
The competition was launched on November 27th, 2020 to highlight the consequences of human trafficking and advocate for its prevention. The recruiting, transporting, transferring, receiving and harbouring of a person by force, coercion or other means for the purpose of exploitation are all gross violations of human rights. The Jamaica National Task Force Against Trafficking In Persons (NATFATIP) lent its support to this timely competition. Human trafficking is a reality in Jamaica where sexual exploitation and forced labour are the two main forms of human trafficking. NATFATIP’s core emphases are the prevention and suppression of trafficking in persons, the prosecution of offenders, and the protection and provision of assistance to victims of trafficking.
The global response to the call for entries was overwhelming. We received 2190 posters, submitted by 1157 artists from 70 countries: Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belgium, Belize, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Palestine, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sudan, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Yemen, and Zimbabwe.
The judging process took place in three stages with three panels. The first consisted of the international designers Yong Huang, China; Hossein Mohammadi Vahidi, Iran; Onur Aşkin, Turkey; Mary Anne Pennington, USA; Lila Skanavi, Greece; Kathiana Cardona OpArt, Venezuela; Rikke Hansen, Denmark; Tomoko Miyagawa, Japan; Donnette Cooper, Jamaica/USA and Naandeyé García Villegas, Mexico.
The second panel comprised the international designers Antonio Castro, USA; Arafat Al-Naim, United Arab Emirates; Byoungil-Sun, Korea; Chaz Maviyane-Davies, Zimbabwe; Claudia Tello, Mexico; Elizabeth Resnick, USA; Mehdi Saeedi, Iran; Susana Machicao, Bolivia; Yossi Lemel, Israel; Zhijun Wang, China.
The final selection of the 10 best posters was made by Aaron Talbert, Vice President Sales and Marketing, VP Records; Michelle Williams, Director, Jamaica, Caribbean and Latin America, VP Records; Ms. Chenee Russell, Ministry of National Security, Jamaica; Ms. Deneise Sealy, Charge d’Affaires, Permanent Mission of Jamaica to the United Nations; Alborosie, reggae music artist; and Carolyn Cooper, Professor Emerita, University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica and a board member of the Intl. Reggae Poster Contest. The exhibition dates and venues will be announced shortly.