Neighbourhood Posters (2026)

Neighbourhood Posters documents the vibrant, non-commercial poster scene in Vancouver from 2025 to 2026: a site of ever-changing, colourful, unregulated information flow, announcing art and music events, parties, rallies, calls to action, and political messages. The posters cover utility poles, electrical boxes, bus shelters, and empty storefronts, a consistent presence in this urban landscape. They are often marred by the weather or defaced and transformed with the addition of scrapes and scribbles. Collectively, this poster activity is a testament to a diverse, persistent, and lively Vancouver. 

This book is an archive, a record of cultural activity that otherwise wouldn’t survive. It not only documents the wide variety of events and political voices, but also the artistry involved; lettering, colours, images, photos, and layout. The headlines are often direct and witty, like “Failures Wanted: Submission Open Now”; or “Drag the Pipeline, drag! Djs! dance party! a fundraiser for Indigenous Land Defenders”. These posters range from the quickly and inexpensively produces, made to announce events or get an urgent message our efficiently, to bigger budget and format posters, promoting theatre productions or music festivals. They were all found while walking in Vancouver neighbourhoods.

At the corner of Main and Broadway, poles have wide bands of designated poster space, but over time the posters overflow these boundaries and amass into a layered and overlapping accumulation. Poster space is limited in such high-traffic locations. From time-to-time, the City will de-poster an area, scraping then away to the bare pole. The City of Vancouver notes that “over time, posters get covered by other posters and are periodically removed by our sanitation crews.” However, within a day or two of their removal, new ones appear. 

Pedestrians are at the heart of the poster audience. Printed and postered ephemera are made for those who aren’t driving, and the messages they communicate often speak to those who are community-minded and have limited means. At the same time, by keeping this analogue form of communication alive, poster-makers fly under the radar of digital conformity, allowing for an offline and intergenerational flow of information to flourish. 

Recording this activity, which inherently protests late-capitalism by stepping back from a reliance on the treadmill of digital communication, is particularly important in this time of global instability. It’s a reminder that paper posters persist as a vibrant and diverse form of communication.

I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks for all the poster-makers whose work I photographed and included in this book. As well as getting the word out about an event or issue, you are helping to build a larger network of community connections. 

Cathy Busby, March 2026

Neighbourhood Posters is available online, in Vancouver at READ Books, and THIS Gallery, and in Toronto Art Metropole.