Learning The Law Through Cartoons And Creating Awareness

On a rainy Saturday morning in Mumbai (6^th July), Safecity hosted the Laws Through Cartoons workshop at ISDI Mumbai. With the aim of creating more awareness about the law and legislation in India in an interactive, creative and fun way, we collaborated with Nappinai & Co., Advocates, who explained the law, and ISDI (Indian School of Design and Innovation) Mumbai, who taught the participants to illustrate. This workshop was supported by the Consulate General of Canada in Mumbai.

The workshop began with a warm welcome by Etienne Lambert, the Consul for Economic, Political and Public Affairs at the Consulate General of Canada in Mumbai. In his welcome address he emphasized, “There is a lot of work to be done in creating more awareness of the law and its complexity in order to create social change, to help individuals know their rights all around the world. This workshop is an initiative to bring together like-minded individuals for the same.”

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Moumita Sanan, from ISDI Mumbai, also welcomed all the participants and partners co-hosting the workshop.

“There is a lot of work to be done in creating more awareness of the law and its complexity in order to create social change, to help individuals know their rights all around the world." - Etienne Lambert, the Consul for Economic, Political and Public Affairs at the Consulate General of Canada in Mumbai.

We had 20 participants ranging from 15-year-old adolescents to those who were 60 plus; some with a background in law while there were others just hoping to learn something new. Noelle-Ann Park, an advocate at Nappinai & Co., Advocates, explained the law around FIR (registration, process, timelines and inquiry), cyberstalking, revenge porn, breach of privacy, online impersonation and sexual harassment at the workplace by explaining the sections of the law and also used examples and case studies when the participants had questions.

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After she explained each section, Jai Ranjit, faculty for first year studies at ISDI, took over to help the participants ideate and imagine their illustrations. He shared examples of different styles of drawing, creating a narrative through one panel vs three panel comics, the importance of adding context to comics through various elements and the need to keep it simple and true to life thus making them more relatable. He shares, “The experience this workshop has delivered is nothing short of memorable. To see participants brave the elements to make it, to invest their time and energy in the pursuit of learning and growth is fantastic, and I feel extremely proud to be a part of it on behalf of ISDI. I look forward to working with Safecity, Red Dot Foundation and the Consulate General of Canada in Mumbai on many more projects, helping raise awareness on topics that matter greatly and to help bring about a positive impact on the world around us.”

 “The session married art and law so beautifully. I am glad I attended and managed to find a headway for a personal project I've been wanting to undertake for the longest time.” - Anushree Singh

While the participants added final touches to their illustrations and dashes of colour here and there, some of them shared their experience with us.

Anushree Singh shared, “My biggest motivation to attend this workshop was to learn the methodology behind taking a complex theoretical concept (especially from law) and be able to explain it through illustrations. The session married art and law so beautifully. I am glad I attended and managed to find a headway for a personal project I've been wanting to undertake for the longest time.”

“We have so much to take home. As the saying goes, ‘Pictures are worth a thousand words’ and we got to create our own pictures. We truly appreciate your efforts to make the workshop happen in spite of the rains,” says Rashmi Udeshi who truly braved the rains and reached the workshop first and on time.

All the illustrations drawn by the participants will be compiled and put together in a book, which will later be available to the public.

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