Raising awareness through art campaigns

Lack of free choice, ignorance of Eastern classical music among other themes.

LAHORE: Most of the 17 theses on display in the Communications Design Department of the National College of Arts concerned awareness campaigns.

Maryam Babar’s Log Kia Kahain Gay (What Will the People Say) highlighted the implications for the youth of not being able to exercise free will. “I tried to show that children who are not allowed to take major decisions in life on their own cannot develop strong personalities,” she said.  A property deed pasted on the entrance to the room where her work was displayed showed ownership of children by their parents. The campaign mentioned education, career and marriage as three decisions that were mostly imposed on the youth.

Sana Hijazi designed a booklet to expose college-educated youngsters to South Asian classical music. The booklet was an illustrative depiction of the history of classical music, with references to Amir Khusro’s works because of its influence on classical music in the region. The booklet covers khayal, tarana and qawali genres.

Sana Ahmed Khan’s campaign highlights multiple influences on Pakistani culture. She also included religious, colonial, national and, most recently, global influences that impact Pakistani culture. “My work is a hybrid of cultures,” she said.

Some students here produced work with a particular employer in mind.

A page from Sana Hijazi’s booklet on South Asian classical music is on display at the National College of Arts theses exhibition. PHOTO: AYESHA MIR/EXPRESS

Tehniyat Javed’s Active Learning at Lahore Museum includes games to help children learn about various artifacts on display. She said most museums in the country lacked dedicated facilities for children. “I have designed games and animated cartoons that will teach children about the objects on display in a museum,” she said.

Osama Siddiq had designed an awareness campaign on the importance of conservation of electricity for his current employer, Know Electricity.

The campaign includes a game application which could be played on smart phones, posters and a booklet. The game required one to conserve electricity as it was transmitted to urban houses.

It shows a female figure depicted as ‘bijli’ which has to be saved from three male figures depicting an iron, a refrigerator and a fluorescent bulb. Siddiq said he had deliberately drawn a female figure for electricity and male figures for home appliances to make the campaign attractive for youngsters.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 17^th, 2015.