Who knew? Hand-painted movies posters from Ghana

Last week my "Digital Imaging for Art/Archaeology Conservation" class visited the Fowler Museum where Director of Conservation, Jo Hill, presented an impressive display of various documentation methods that the Fowler employs to keep track of their vast collection. Of all the documents, one group interested me the most: condition reports related to an 2001 exhibit of Ghanaian movie posters from the 1980's-1990's.

These posters were painted on canvas or grain sacks, advertised contemporary American movies, and were produced for traveling video cinemas. Many are signed by their artist. The movie preferences represented by this group of posters seem to lean toward violence, action, and sex. Think kung-fu.

The Fowler's description of the exhibit:
From the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, hand-painted posters on canvas were the principal means of advertising for Ghana's independent mobile cinema industry. They stand out from other West African artistic traditions by their highly individualistic style, complex narrative and Western-influenced attitudes towards sex and violence. The visual effect of these bold and uncensored posters can be compared to that of neon signs. Now replaced by mass-produced posters and other types of inexpensive signage, these precious hand-painted canvases are a vibrant legacy of a melding of disparate cultures that occurred in Ghana when movies, in the form of videocassettes, began to pour in from all over the world.

Anyway, I was totally surprised to find such home-grown advertising, especially in the modern world, for titles that are more likely to make you think of blockbuster production and the most mass-produced marketing schemes. I would love to learn more about the background of these posters. Questions that I have are:

How long after US release would Ghana typically receive copies of a title?
Were mass-produced posters not available in Ghana? If so, why not?
How representative is the Fowler's collection of movie tastes in Ghana at that time?
Are hand-painted movie posters still typical in Ghana or has the market changed?
How did the Fowler Museum acquire this collection?

For more information, here's a good blogpost from the Ephemera Assemblyman.
Thanks, Ephemera Assemblyman, for the "Terminator" image!