Here is the poster I made for the 20th Panama Jazz festival.

It is very special and crazy to win a contest ✨ I am very proud and touched.

 

For this contest I tried to reflect my vision of the trilogy “Bocas, Colón, Panamá” through the instruments, the musicians and the singers. It seemed important to me to also represent the trilogy/ruta as a single, fourth entity (as referenced on the contest description), created by diversity.

 

For me there is a clear link between Panama and jazz; they are both made up of diverse people, cultures and ideas from many corners of the world, who live together as a unique “family” filled with generous members making them richer. 

 

It seemed obvious to me to place the piano on Bocas del Toro, as the birth place of the great pianist Luis Russell – and “Pionero, La historia de Luis Russell” book is going to be presented during the festival in Bocas del Toro.

I have represented “La Ruta del Jazz” through a sequence of instruments defining the shape of the country.

 

As we just got out of 2 years of pandemic, I wanted to use warm and joyful colors such as orange, yellow and red – reflecting the warmth and depth of jazz music – and because we all need to feel the effervescence of sharing all together again! Panamanian warmth is also what made me choose Panama as a home, so it particularly touches me.

 

For the musicians, I feel traveling at that time must have been an entire adventure. I imagine it like jumping on one of those beautiful ferry boats from the 1920s, playing along the sea, meeting new musicians on their way to a new world. Following this idea, I have drawn boat silhouettes that we can imagine following the route from Panamá to Bocas through the canal that passes Colón.