Culture and Media: Twin Weapons of Change

This brief news piece examines two arts-based strategies - street theatre and photography exhibitions - that are increasingly being used in Pakistan to raise awareness among the general public about such issues as HIV/AIDS and hepatitis, the challenges that street children face, and the problem of violence against women. These cultural, media-centred strategies are presented as alternatives to the typical full-scale conferences held at such events as the World Social Forum (WSF).

As reported here, Adolescent Activists Network (AAN) is a Pakistani theatre group that has joined what is described as "the movement by activists to use culture, the arts and the media to get their message across." In a street performance in Urdu at the WSF (one venue for which was Pakistan, March 24-29 2006), the group showed that HIV/AIDS is not transmitted through physical contact, and that acceptance is what those who live with it need most. Reflecting on the medium of communication being used here, Director of the AIDS Awareness Society (AAS) Hector Nihal said that a street performance with songs and dances is particularly effective in this environment because many Pakistanis are still uneducated and illiterate and cannot read pamphlets and booklets about HIV/AIDS. Further, he explained that such street performances are a more interactive way to get health-related messages across. Also, considering the sensitivity of the topic of HIV/AIDS, this medium "is more down-to-earth and is less intimidating than a full-scale conference to the average Pakistani", in the words of Frances Suselo, the author of this news piece.

Violence against women was the topic highlighted by another play, performed by the Pirbhat Theatre group of the Pirbhat Women's Development Society. In the performance, Afshan Khan's character is a victim of honour killing, brutally slain by her own brother. There is also a comically ignorant 'mullah' ranting and raving against women, drawing laughter from the audience. "We want to change society," Khan said - in part, it seems, by using entertainment to engage audiences in even the most difficult of issues/themes.

To cite an example of a different but related strategy, also from the WSF, the Initiator Human Development Foundation chose to simply display black and white pictures of Karachi street children on a huge expanse of wall. In addition to financial constraints that prohibited the holding of a large-scale seminar, the president of this organisation, Raha Asif Habib, seems to suggest that a photography exhibit is more likely to be covered by the news media than a conference session, which he deems important because (in the words of Frances Suselo), "it is solely through the media that the issue of street children gets its fair share of limelight amid the cacophony of other voices." Habib acknowledged that girls are seen in less than 10% of the pictures: "There are also girl street children, but most of them are only on the streets for two to three days because they are usually kidnapped by the mafia and sold into prostitution."