University of Technology, Jamaica's Graffiti Wall: Increasing awareness of HIV/AIDS through participatory message design

Abstract

Introduction The University of Technology, Jamaica (UTech) is the first national public university in Jamaica. Accorded university status in 1995 and chartered in 1999, the university is known for concentrating on producing work-ready graduates in the fields of Pharmacy and the Health Sciences, Technical and Vocational Education, the Built Environment, Business and Management and Engineering and Computing. In face of the reality that the Caribbean is second only to Southern Africa in the rate of new HIV infections, UTech determined that it has a critical responsibility to develop methods of educating members of its community about HIV/AIDS and leading in the fight against the disease. The urgency of this fight is underscored by the fact that UTech's student clientele is predominantly comprised of those in the most at-risk age groups for contracting the disease1. Therefore, since late 2002, the University has actively joined the fight against HIV/AIDS from two distinct directions: increasing awareness about the nature of the disease among members of the UTech community in order to encourage behaviour that will reduce the infection rate, and insisting on the rights of those living with HIV/AIDS. As part of a major education initiative, the University planned an largescale outdoor exhibition related to HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean Sculpture Park at its Papine Campus in October 2003, inviting all institutions - public sector, NGO and private sector - engaged in the fight against the disease to mount booths that displayed what they were doing to combat the disease. The theme of the exhibition was HIV/AIDS Awareness - protection, prevention and caring for people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). However, in planning the exhibition, the organising committee was confronted with a significant challenge: the building adjacent to the Caribbean Sculpture Park was under construction, and the entire length of the park was fenced in zmc to protect visitors to the park from the construction activity. The organising committee agreed that this zinc fencing would detract from the exhibits; if, indeed, the park were to be used as the site for the exhibition, something needed to be done about the zinc fencing. Hence was born the idea of a graffiti competition on the zinc fencing that would be conducted as a complementary activity to UTech's HIV/AIDS Awareness Day 2003. Following is a detailed account of the planning and execution of the UTech Graffiti Competition and its outcomes. Anticipated benefits of the Graffiti Competition The HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (HAAD) Organising Committee agreed that the advantages of a graffiti competition were that it would generate interest in HTV/AIDS as an issue of concern to students and staff, create interest in the planned HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, and engage students and staff directly in thinking about the themes of the HAAD itself. An added benefit of the graffiti competition was that the messages generated would be in place as long as the construction site remained on campus. At the time of planning the competition, it was estimated that the construction would not be completed until January 2004. Therefore, the Organising Committee agreed that the benefits of the initiative were many. Preparation for the competition Ownership of the zinc fencing The Organising Committee first arranged with the contractor, through UTech's Physical Development and Operations Department, that the graffiti entries could be painted on the zinc fencing, and that the zinc fencing could be retained by the University at the end of the construction period. These two agreements were critical to the success of the initiative: entrants needed to know that they were creating messages for the community that would last beyond the HAAD. Furthermore, since the initiative addressed so many members of the UTech community, it was important that the products of the initiative would remain with the University. …