Montreux Jazz Festival has found a second artistic duo for its poster. For the 61st edition, which runs along the Lake Geneva shoreline from 2 to 17 July 2027, the festival chose French illustrator Malika Favre and Sri Lankan-born sculptor Kumkum Fernando to create a new montreux jazz festival poster.
Keith Haring first worked with the festival in 1983, when he made three versions of a poster. In 1986 he collaborated with Andy Warhol on another. That poster remains the only earlier festival poster made by two artists, according to the festival’s own announcement.
Favre has her own history with Montreux. Her 2017 poster, a weave of female dancers with musical instruments hidden in its negative space, became one of the festival’s most popular. For the tenth anniversary of that work, the festival asked her to follow Haring’s example and bring in a collaborator.
The montreux poster design she made with Fernando is built around a single towering figure. Flowers, folk motifs and sensual patterns cover its surface, so viewers can read it as a robot, an altar and a jukebox at the same time.
The artists drew on South Asian traditions, retro-futurism and the counterculture of the 1960s. Together these sources shape music as an intimate, spiritual and universal experience. The figure is meant to feel both ancient and futuristic.
Folk motifs can also turn music into physical objects, as this porcelain DJ set that blends Korean folk motifs with technology shows.
The montreux jazz festival poster as a deliberate reversal of 2017
Favre’s 2017 poster was spare. Her new design goes the other way, packing colour and shape into every corner. “I knew it would be hard to match, so I wanted to take the opposite approach: to create a work bursting with colour, as maximalist as the first one was minimalist,” she says.
The flowers refer to the quays of Montreux and to the flower power movement of the hippie era. The festival was founded in 1967, during the Summer of Love. Favre’s florals also outline lips, kisses and female faces, motifs of love, pleasure and sexuality that appear across her work.
Favre describes the poster as a picture of the town itself. “I had this vision of music blooming in Montreux, this feeling of the entire town coming alive during the festival. I wanted to convey that joy,” she says. She adds that the festival is an opportunity to celebrate at a time when “the world is going through strange times.”
From poster to furniture
The central figure was never meant to stay flat. Following Fernando’s practice of making futuristic, geometric sculpture, the design becomes a made-to-order vinyl cabinet. It includes a dedicated turntable compartment and pull-out drawers for record storage.
Fernando says the idea came from a visual link he noticed between religious altars and jukeboxes. “The spark came when we noticed the resemblance between the shape of certain religious altars and that of a jukebox, both sharing the same sense of symmetry,” he says. “We imagined a kind of gateway into a sacred realm of music.”
A long line of artist posters
The festival has invited Swiss and international artists to design its montreux jazz festival poster since its early years. Jean Tinguely’s 1982 design became the festival’s logo. David Bowie contributed a poster in 1995. More recent designers include Yoann Lemoine (Woodkid), Christian Marclay, Lakwena and Kévin Germanier.
Posters often spark debate about their design choices, and this Tom Cruise retro poster that divided designers is a useful comparison.
The 2027 edition extends that tradition in a new direction. A festival poster that becomes a record cabinet asks visitors to take the music home with them. The 61st Montreux Jazz Festival begins on 2 July 2027.
Source: creativebloq.com
Frequently asked questions
When does the 2027 Montreux Jazz Festival take place?
The 61st Montreux Jazz Festival runs along the Lake Geneva shoreline from 2 to 17 July 2027. The article notes the festival begins on 2 July 2027.
Who designed the 2027 Montreux Jazz Festival poster?
French illustrator Malika Favre and Sri Lankan-born sculptor Kumkum Fernando designed the 2027 Montreux Jazz Festival poster. The festival asked Favre to bring in a collaborator for the tenth anniversary of her 2017 poster.
What does the 2027 Montreux Jazz Festival poster turn into?
The central figure of the 2027 poster becomes a made-to-order vinyl cabinet. It includes a dedicated turntable compartment and pull-out drawers for record storage.
Has a Montreux Jazz Festival poster ever been made by two artists before?
Yes, in 1986 Keith Haring collaborated with Andy Warhol on a Montreux Jazz Festival poster. According to the festival’s announcement, that poster remains the only earlier festival poster made by two artists.
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