How Vancouver Deals With Postering
Some people find them unsightly, but regular readers know that I consider posters to be a vital part of a city’s cultural and community life. Without posters, musicians, community groups and political activists would have no effective way of getting their word out. To put it simply, this is about freedom of speech: there is no reason why large companies should have the right to dominate the public realm with advertising when individuals and small, local organizations cannot use the same venue to make themselves heard.
Many cities try to repress posters, but there are others that have chosen a more reasonable path. In Vancouver, lampposts across the city are covered in a special cast to which anyone can legally staple a poster. The posters are cleared by a city employee every week. In many parts of town, even larger poster kiosks serve as neighbourhood hubs where people gather to look at ads for apartments, furniture, events and shows. One of these, on Bute Street in the West End, is a favourite medium of communication for the neighbourhood’s young Korean and Japanese students.
Tags: Signs, Streetlife, Vancouver
Georg D says:
and here i was wanting to pitch a little feature to you folks about how stencil graffiti are totally becoming the new posters… though, point taken, for getting word out legally posters are the smarter way to go, if the city is smart enough to provide means and space…
March 21st, 2007 at 12:39 pm