Youth will be trained in technical and aesthetics skills of photography, the concept of peace and using effective social media through a series of workshops in Lahore. They will also record audio stories, and build a visual and oral narrative to hold online exhibition of the work. Blogs will be used to generate debate on the work and issues presented. The project will promote peace and facilitate dialogue among youth through social media.
Topical focus:
Country:
What locality or neighborhood will your project focus on?
Lahore
Describe the specific community with whom you will be working.
For nearly a decade now, the people of Pakistan have been enduring the contingency of a bloody conflict as a result of the war waged against terrorism. Unlike “conventional warfare” conflicts, boundaries of this war do not exist & has far reaching impacts. This state of violence has badly affected the lives of youth and children at physical, psychological & social levels. There is also no effective platform for youth to express online creatively.
What kinds of news, stories and other content will be created?
Two groups of 40 young people will be trained in photography, social media and the themes of peace. Each individual participant will create minimum 10 photographs and 1 audio slideshow. A total of 400 images and 40 slide shows will be produced. All the work will be published in an online exhibition & promoted through social media and micro-blogging by the young artists. The themes of the artwork will be around peace for a collective better world.
What technologies and digital tools do you plan to use in the trainings?
Describe the connections that you or your organization have already established that will contribute to the success of the project.
The Little Art believes on partnerships with like-minded organizations. We consider children and youth our strongest allies in making a difference through the arts. In 2012, we conducted photography workshops while making partnerships with Embassy of Germany, Acting for Life and Express Tribune. For this project, our in-house photographer and psychologist will work while making partnerships with Progressive Education Network (PEN) & City FM89.
How many participants do you think will be involved in your project?
Two groups of 40 young people will be made for the project. The workshops will be divided into phases, given the areas of photography, social media & exploring the issues of peace. The workshops will be conducted over period of two months. Young people will work on their projects for 6 to 8 weeks while being active on social media & micro-blogging. The curated exhibition will be published online to facilitate social media activism & discussion.
Besides the microgrant funding, what other resources and support are you seeking for your project to ensure its success?
We would be very interested to showcase the produced work and the stories of peace and hope from Pakistani youth to the world. We have witnessed that most of the time in mainstream media a cliché image of Pakistani society is portrayed. As the project will be published online, and participants will be actively using and promoting their voices, it would be great to give them exposure of networking and dialogue for further global understanding.
Contact name
Shoaib Iqbal
Organization
The Little Art