Description
I hail from the beautiful city of Mumbai in the western part of India. Since 2007, I have been a student of Graphic Design at San Diego State University. Although it sounds ironic, staying away from home allowed me to understand my country and her people better. Several times, I reflected upon the social issues back in my country and how I could approach them through my work. I realized that the religious intolerance that is so prevalent approach them through my work. I realized that the religious intolerance that is so prevalent in the Indian society bothered me. Considering India is home to several religions and practices. I couldn't justify these religious conflicts, especially between Hindus and Muslims. Hindus form the majority group with eighty percent of the Indian population practicing Hinduism. Muslims are the largest minority group being fourteen percent of the total Indian population. Both these groups share a history of ethnic violence and bloody riots. Hinduism was born in India; whereas, Islam was introduced in the country around the tenth century A.D. by Arab traders on business visits. In spite of living together for more than a thousand years on the same land, the two religious groups still show signs of conflict. India's politicians and their agendas have also contributed to the rise of religious conflicts. These politicians have repeatedly exploited religious and ethnic tensions for short-term political gain. In this process, they have completely ignored the long-term social consequences that have impacted the cordial relations between these two groups. These tensions, resulting in repeated riots, have left permanent scars in the minds of the people of both groups. Through my work, I am attempting to bridge the differences between these two groups and highlight the elements of harmonious relationships that can exist between them. I am addressing this issue by showing the CONTRAST in the stereotypical iconographic images in various categories, such as food, clothing, architecture, literature, beliefs, and symbols between the two groups; and at the same time highlighting the commonality between the two, which is the UNIFYING element in my design. Through my work, I want to emphasize that even though these two groups have had several conflicts and have different faiths and beliefs, the commonality between Hindus and Muslims is far stronger than the differences. During the week of October 17-22, 2009, I used the space of the Flor y Canto Gallery at San Diego State University in order to showcase my posters, information panels and mandala installation. Overall, I created an intimate environment in the gallery where the visitor could experience the contrasting nature between the two religious groups and travel through the factors that unify them. Slides of the gallery installation of the project are available for viewing in the Slide Library in the School of Art, Design, and Art History.
