Smriti Malhotra
At the esteemed Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, the campaign “Untangling the Politics of Hair” emerged triumphant, securing a prestigious Gold Lion in the Industry Craft Lions category. This remarkable achievement was announced during the 70th edition of the festival, which takes place from June 19 to 23, 2023. The award-winning campaign was skillfully crafted by FCB India for STIR, with its creative concept brought to life by the talented minds of Rohit Chawla and Swati Bhattacharya.
The campaign “Untangling the Politics of Hair” played a crucial role in shedding light on the Mahsa Amini protests in Iran, capturing attention not only within India but also across international borders. This groundbreaking initiative garnered significant recognition and support, including the endorsement of Shombi Sharp, the UN Resident Coordinator in India. By seamlessly blending art and journalism, the campaign exemplified the powerful synergy between these two disciplines, igniting vital discussions on pressing issues. “Untangling the Politics of Hair” serves as a remarkable example of the power of creative collaborations in generating urgent discourse and sparking transformative dialogue.
Swati Bhattacharya (CCO, FCB India) and photographer Rohit Chawla’s poignant exhibition “Hair and Her” at the India Art Fair (IAF) 2023 inspired the campaign. It aimed to shed light on the protests in Iran that unfolded in September 2022. Notably, while political figures in the world’s largest democracy remained silent on the plight faced by women in Iran and worldwide, the campaign sought to raise awareness and address the atrocities endured by these women. “Hair and Her” employed photography and film to captivate audiences at the India Art Fair, presenting a powerful image of a woman enveloped in her own hair, evoking a sense of confinement. In a poignant video crafted by Veneet Raj Bagga and Onion Creative, accompanied by a somber Bengali song by Aanon H Siddiqua, the woman questions the prolonged captivity of her eyes, mouth, and legs. As the video progresses, she courageously breaks free from her constraints, liberating herself by cutting the shackles that bind her legs and removing the mask veiling her face.
Photographer Rohit Chawla perfectly encapsulated the essence of the campaign with his profound statement: “Standing at the crossroads of art and journalism, I feel Untangling the Politics of Hair doesn’t just provoke you to see the work, but provokes you to do something about it.” These words rang true for Hair and Her, the exhibition that served as the vital catalyst for the campaign. Beside the captivating artwork, a transparent donation box stood, inviting visitors to symbolically contribute a lock of their own hair in solidarity with the victims of what Chawla coined as ‘hair apartheid.’ Swiftly, the box filled with strands of diverse colors and textures, collected from a multicultural crowd deeply moved by the art. They transformed from passive viewers into active participants, crossing the threshold from observation to engagement.
The triumph of this achievement stems from a collaborative effort among a diverse group of creatives who share common values and principles. Between STIR’s unfettered ambition for this brief, our aspiration for the work, the standards Rohit Chawla, our photographer, set for making it as evocative as it could be, this is a testament to what being unfettered can achieve for all of us. We fly when we’re unfettered, says Swati Bhattacharya for Stir World.
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