Full video

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in Ghana an artist prepares his tools to

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create another Masterpiece he mounts his

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canvas prepares his brushes mixes his

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paints but what is he

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painting wait is that alucino a horse's

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head is that a burning car oh it's the

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Godfather got

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it so you're probably wondering why

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these posters look different well in

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the' 70s and ' 80s in Ghana when video

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cassettes arrived locals would create

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DIY pop-up Cinemas using whatever

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technology they could get their hands on

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these Cinemas needed to advertise their

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films and with hand painted Graphics

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being the norm back then plenty of

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talented artists Rose to the challenge

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using discarded flower sacks as their

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canvas so my name is Joseph frong I'm

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the director for the center for African

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popular culture at chassi I'm also a

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researcher and a collector I think the

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reactions to these um exhibitions can be

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classified into two folds for the older

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generation it evokes feelings of

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nostalgia right and people say oh you

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know I used to remember you know these

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works when I was younger etc etc and

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then you have the younger folks who have

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no experience with it and then they

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begin to ask questions this is weird or

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this is strangely artistic uh where is

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this coming from as competition grew

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stronger the paintings got more dramatic

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often featuring graphic scenes and

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exaggerated muscular

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physiques sometimes you have things

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depicted on the posters that will arouse

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your interest because you think that you

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are going to see those depictions in

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those uh movies it created tensions

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where you have certain folks demanding

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their money back because they've been

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deceived right they use a process called

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imaginative painting where they take

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artistic Liberties to sometimes render

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things that you not see in the movies it

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makes them truly truly unique with the

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rise of digital printed posters in the

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2000s handpainted posters fell out of

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fashion but frong believes they're worth

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holding on to and it's not just him in

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fact Ganan poster painters have found a

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new audience around the

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world I think the art form hasn't

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changed rather the purpose of these

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posters has changed it was used to

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advertise movies now that experience is

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non-existent so these Works have now

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become Collectibles these posters have

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gained a cult fan base globally usually

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selling for around $800 a piece there

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are even counterfeit posters out there

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artists now create commission pieces of

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their clients favorite films in their

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signature style something about these

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posters continues to resonate with

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people I mean I can see why who wouldn't

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want a handp painted poster of their

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favorite film where all of the

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characters are jacked and there's a few

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additional grenades thrown in for fun I

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mean look at those muscles

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[Music]

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Wild