One has to use the human face as a canvas to convey a message. The theme for the painting was “Gender Equality”. This was the challenge posed by the Andhra Loyola College Department of Visual Communication to the students.
Visual Communication Department head Santosh Kumar Biswal told The Hindu that 30 teams of five students each participated. While one of the students in the team provided the face (canvas) for painting the others came up with the concept and did the art work displaying a lot of creativity.
The budding artists covered the entire ambit of atrocities against women including female foeticide in their art work. While some of the groups selected the mythological theme of ‘ardhanaariswara’, (androgynous form of Shiva and Parvati) others made use of the gender symbols to endorse their message.
Many artists used words and slogans on the faces to convey their message, some others used heavy symbolism. In a variation of ardhanaariswara an artist painted one half of the face black to symbolise night and the other half white to symbolise day. The symbol of ‘yin’ and ‘yang’ also found place on one face.
One face painting said “Break the Rules” and listed several words – culture, tradition, belief and religion – on the cheeks and other parts of the face. As if to show that men and women should be together, one artist named the upper lip, male, and the lower lip, female.
Vibrant colours were also used to light up the faces and send the message of ‘gender equality’ across to the audience. While one artist put his message in the tri-coloured Indian flag, yet another turned the subject into a clown.
