Writing on the wall….

Colourful. Thought provoking. Intense. Poetic. Literary . Rebellious.  These are the few words that can be used to describe the campus art at the sprawling campus of JNU, New Delhi.  Here campus graffiti and art take on whole new meanings and form where, the creative meet the radical.

JNU, has since its inception been known as a brewing pot of student politics. Politics not just of better canteens, or water supply, but the politics of international issues and ideologies.  And all of this is reflected in the poster art of this campus. The posters here are a powerful way of asserting and giving out the message. They are the mirrors on which the ideology of the students stand reflected.  Deep thinking and planning goes into the preparations of this huge life like posters.  The posters are all hand painted and made. The JNU constitution doesn’t allow for printed posters to be put on. They cover walls, open spaces, and canteen and schools areas.

Revolutionary poets like Pablo Neruda, Bertolt Brecht, Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Paash, are the hot favourites to be read on these posters.  Also witnessed a lot are the iconic picture of Che Guevara, and his famous quotes.

as the left politics clearly dominates this campus, so is the art work. The posters deal with issues on national and international relevance. They take up socialistic, and anti-consumerism driven status. Almost all the current political and social themes and issues find themselves up on the wall. Many of the posters draw inspiration from historical figures and events.

Most the posters take more than about a week to be prepared. And it’s not just art; it’s much more than that. It’s a message, a call to reach out to the people, to make them aware of what JNU is thinking. Graphically.

 

Ektaa Malik

~ by ektaamalik on October 30, 2009.