CONTRAST + UNITY _______________ A Project Presented to the Faculty of San Diego State University _______________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts in Arts with a Concentration in Studio Arts _______________ by Namita Nitin Sharma Fall 2010 iii Copyright © 2010 by Namita Nitin Sharma All Rights Reserved iv DEDICATION I dedicate this MA project to my husband, Nitin Sharma. Thank you for all your patience, love and support. I could not have finished this project without you. v ABSTRACT OF THE PROJECT Contrast + Unity by Namita Nitin Sharma Master of Arts in Art with a Concentration in Studio Arts San Diego State University, 2010 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 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. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE ABSTRACT ...............................................................................................................................v LIST OF PLATES ................................................................................................................. viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................................x CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .........................................................................................................1 2 INFLUENCES ...............................................................................................................4 Posters ......................................................................................................................5 Power of Images, Signs and Symbols ......................................................................8 Information Design ................................................................................................13 Typography ............................................................................................................15 3 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND.................................................................................19 900 – 1707 Muslim Conquest ................................................................................22 1751 – 1947 British India ......................................................................................22 1947 India and Pakistan .........................................................................................23 1947 – Present ........................................................................................................24 4 SOCIAL CONTEXT ...................................................................................................26 India as Society ......................................................................................................27 Hindu Caste System ...............................................................................................27 India’s National Identity ........................................................................................29 5 PROCESS ....................................................................................................................32 Setting the Stage ....................................................................................................32 Refinement .............................................................................................................36 Final Practice .........................................................................................................38 6 THE EXHIBITION ......................................................................................................42 Side Panels .............................................................................................................44 Compositions .........................................................................................................46 Architecture ......................................................................................................48 vii Beliefs ..............................................................................................................49 Clothing............................................................................................................50 Food .................................................................................................................51 Literature ..........................................................................................................52 Symbology .......................................................................................................53 Information Panels .................................................................................................54 Oneness Mandala ...................................................................................................58 7 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................61 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................61 APPENDIX PLATES .......................................................................................................................64 viii LIST OF PLATES PAGE Plate 1 Fang Chen Victory ...................................................................................................66 Plate 2 Yossi Lemel Israel Palestine 2002 Bloodbath ........................................................67 Plate 3 Steven Lyons No Blood for Oil ................................................................................68 Plate 4 Mies Hora Official Signs & Icons 2 .........................................................................69 Plate 5 Symbol Om ..............................................................................................................70 Plate 6 Parle G .....................................................................................................................71 Plate 7 Advertisement near railway tracks in Mumbai ........................................................72 Plate 8 The Wall Project ......................................................................................................73 Plate 9 Shepard Fairey Barack Obama “Hope” Poster ......................................................74 Plate 10 HSBC The world’s local bank .................................................................................75 Plate 11 William Playfair Pie chart from Statistical Breviary ...............................................76 Plate 12 Philipp Steinweber and Andreas Koller Similar Diversity ......................................77 Plate 13 Timm Kekeritz Virtual Water inside products ........................................................78 Plate 14 Nicholas Felton Annual Report 2008 .......................................................................79