Changing Forms of Art in
The Public Spaces of Kashmir

The Changes
Since the remains of changed forms of art during insurgency have almost vanished from the public space, martyr memorials that came up in the memory of killed ones' can be still found along roadsides but in ruins.
"Martyr" memorials – A tap and an epitaph having inscriptions detailed on it about the dead came up in the every nook and corner of the valley, mostly in Srinagar city and other towns.

The big metal frame bases on which various film posters announcing new releases were pasted accumulated rust. Cinema halls got converted into military garrisons and a sandbagged culture became prominent in the city and major towns. However what then sociologists say is "art never dies" and same got reflected in the years that followed.

	The Present trend Last two years saw an upheaval in the culture of hoardings in the valley. Army in Kashmir fighting the insurgency initiated the process by erecting hoardings having bigger than life size images of its jawans amid old and young children from border districts of Kashmir. The hoardings are having the cut lines "Jawan aur awam amun hai muqam".

This was followed by the hoardings that came because of the political mantra of People's Democratic Party, partner in the ruling coalition in Jammu and Kashmir. Prior to the opening of Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road, the people's attention was grabbed by these hoardings giving the actual distance in kilometers from various places to Muzaffarabad in Pakistan administered Kashmir.

Of late Tourism and private companies have joined the bandwagon. If some hoardings promote the particular brand, Tourism department sells the Kashmir as a tourist destination. Likewise, Power department cautions about the theft of electricity and so on.