Paper txt msgs from Kashmir

This project is a beautiful piece of work, and an exemplar of what radical communication and Memefest is all about – it is playful and delightful, but makes a serious point in a memorable way. I wish more designers would use their capacity for creativity this way.

Reading through the collection of messages is a moving experience, and very much encompasses the theme of this year's festival: the love is obvious in the uniquely handwritten messages between loved ones, the conflict and power come through from the context of the situation and the cries for help and justice. To allow love to emerge through such conflict and abuse of power, with such a simple idea (pen and paper...remember those!) is a truly admirable achievement.

This is by far the stand out project of the festival for me. Congratulations on producing such a moving and powerful piece of work.

A political and poetic approach demonstrating the power of human creativity over technological restrictions and/or machine fetichism.
The project would have more impact if the web site offered more material and documentation about the experience. Interwiews, testimonies, videos showing the reaction of the people receiving the messages would make it very inspiring for similar projects.

The topics LOVE, CONFLICT and IMAGINATION can lead to a range of interpretations that goes from a personal and private view of this elements (my body, my family) to a wider angle of public and social point (my region, my world). Should be easy to explore LOVE, even if rivers of poetry can be written. Should be a little more difficult to express the meaning of CONFLICT when I live in a comfortable social space. In the western society we forgotten that the present is more recent than we think. The progress made after the invention of electricity follow a crazy line that goes in conflict with the limited space we have on our planet. When this little place (my region) become militarized change the perception of life. The first big thing to face is the lost of imagination on new generation. Paper txt msgs from Kashmir looks like a jump into a near future where new media can be perceived without electricity. It is a paradox? or we are living in a paradox?

This is a powerfully simple project that works on many levels.

First and foremost, I appreciate how it is born out of a specific context and brings to light the important issues surrounding it.

Though the simplicity of the core idea belies the complexity of the issues, it uses/appropriates a specific media channel to create a personal connection within a community, and allows for an openness of expression (and interpretation) in direct opposition to the censorship the original ban sought to enforce.

As a design solution, it is very effective. Identifying a specific problem, and using the simplest means to address it, but with just enough of a metaphoric hook to make it engaging and relevant. An economy of means is employed to create a much larger effect.

If I have one very small criticism, it would be the design of the paper text msgs. I would have liked to see them mimic the cell phone interface a little bit more. But this probably comes from my design "snobism" more than out of any real need.

I would also like to see how the project could be evolved. A website which documents and communicates the messages would be great to see, and perhaps very useful for the people involved. Furthermore, a reinterpretation of the content could be very relevant in order to further expand the reach of the messages and information about the situation generally.

The simplicity and yet the layers of emotional overtures beckons me to advocate a collection of these messages to the world at large. This is what I feel radical communication stands for and the existence of social sites like Memefest is needed for its promotion.

In this digital age with twitters and sms's, blogs, etc I have to admit the lo-fi tactical media project, that responded to the Indian state’s ban of pre-paid phone connections with a specially designed and accessible 4x4inch piece of card, otherwise know as a paper txt msg is refreshing and gets my attention.

The vernacular remains intact yet on many levels because of the simple fact that you are seeing someone hand written txt msg it connects you to that person and draws you emotionally. The stills from the video footage adds to the variations that one sees in the textures of the messages. I enjoyed these variations because each reflected a unique personality - even how the blank squares were photocopied, juxtaposition and often random endearing terms expressed with such ease is a cause for celebration. SMS's may be band but freedom of expression still lives on in yet another form. Advocates will always find a way out.

The only reservation I had for this project was that it was not conceived for the competition but it fits well unlike many that were done a few years back and tried in vain to adapt to the theme and subject of the competition. I appreciated the very fact that this competition has given this cause a platform to promote itself and will continue and evolve in other mediums. A simple idea with a strong impact!

I found this project a very human interaction with difficult issues, using simple and effective formats to open up a subject too often ignored. The medium is completely relevant to the situation and critiques the way many designers often use the latest technology, trend, typeface... even when the old ones work better.

An interesting debate seems to have been created with many people engaging enthusiastically to tell their own stories, keen to let a other hear what they have to say. This from people that would probably be kept out of the news due to the way the media opperate in these conflict zones.

My main question would be if the people that participated in the project managed to gain form the experience, as it seems the outcomes were presented in far-away art galleries, in very different circumstances (this may well not be true - just i cant see that side of the project here).

Dear Alana,

let me comment your submitted project with few words.
Your project has strong political discourse. The idea behind this project is very strong and visual implementation is very original.

Physical space based activist projects with a bit of guerrilla marketing strategy and tactical media is the right format you could choose for visualizing the topic and issue. Using lo-fi technology, print media and interactivity was the right communication strategy to show the pradox and unlogic of such political conflict.

Good luck in developing this project and hope you will address the right people and attract more attention of political structures in Kashmir.

The simplicity of this intervention is beautiful – while ironic to consider the introduction of the lo-fi solution to a technical limitation or ban has an element of humor to it, the degree to which the intervention penetrated the population and became an actual vehicle speaks well to the integrity of this work.

I have little to add to this work critically, I simply wish to express my belief in the work of the authors – this is a meaningful and significant act that will gain formal expression through the extended means of documentation discussed in the description.

Particular attention can, and I have no doubt will, be placed in the contextualization of the received txt messages. While the individual messages may not function as a coherent narrative or series of conversations, the intervention certainly does – at the level of the imagination, and at the level of artistic act.

Dear Alana, Suvaid, Suhail, Fayaz, Tanveer, Mubaishra, Irshad, Ishtiyaq, Majid and Riyaz - thanks for sharing this project with us.
We enjoyed its simple and convincing concept, where people speak in first person with barely no visual interpretation by the designer/artist or so. no typeface/font can simulate the direct handwriting - what one can read between the lines - what images of people emerge by reading handwritten lines. Very nice.

We agree on most of the things you have sketched out in your project description. and it is obvious to us that this is a good project which fulfills the memefest outlines. so we would only like to add a few questions here:
- how do you see the relation between the private (message) and public (exhibition)? how were these cards actually distributed in Kashmir?
- what kind of information was given along beside the info on the cards?
- what kind of people were reached? (this stays a bit abstract in your description
- and also what difficulties might have come along with the distribution). So what happened to the 850 text cards which were not send back? did people "play" with them for themselves? do you know why so many were not send back?

A documentation of the distribution act would have been nice to see - and also to understand what kind of social setting it was placed in, - as we know that 40% of kashmiri people can't read or write.
Why not keep it on the lo-fi level now? …and what is the relation between gaining "cultural capital for the art world" with such a project and the participants?