The Oasis English Press had a one-on-one interaction with Devansh Agarwal, the StuCCAn of the Department of Art, Design, and Publicity (ADP), to gain insight into the workings and preparations of the department for Oasis ’26.
Devansh started off by saying that, although the ADP was known for its paintings and structures, there was more to the department than met the eye. The ADP encompassed four verticals: painting, structure, publicity, and media. According to him, the latter two are even more relevant in today’s day and age, primarily due to the heavy digitalisation of communication media.
The media vertical’s work encompasses relentless networking before the fest: reaching out to various media partners, social media influencers, blog sites, newspapers, and news channels. It also had the task of bringing in coverage partners to capture significant moments of the fest and subsequently provide clips and videos. Several of the judges for the competitive events held during Oasis were also invited by this vertical via a barter-esque system, with the college funding their travel and accommodation in return for receiving their valuable time.
The equally important publicity vertical was in charge of graphic design—mainly for the posters and other publicity material that went up on the BITS Oasis web-page—and 2-D and 3-D video making and projection.
Devansh took pride in announcing the introduction of an Audio Team that would produce its own music for social media posts, along with the Oasis anthem.
This year, the painting vertical was in charge of seven main panels: one as the main stage backdrop, four inside the Auditorium, and two outside it. Out of these, two were charcoal-based graphite panels, and the others were made using poster paints, soft pastels, and pencil colours.
Finally, the structure vertical was tasked with crafting structures, including humanoid figures and photobooths, and placing them throughout the campus to enhance the overall vibe of the fest.
With around 50 active members, the ADP is also responsible for overseeing the fest inventory, explained Devansh. The funding for this was decided upon in a budget-related StuCCA meeting.
Devansh further explained how the ADP was one of the departments that decided upon this year’s theme: Dawn of the Djinns. He added that there were a lot of visual elements linked with the theme, like Persian architecture and art styles, and certain aspects like royalty and lamps inspired by movies like Aladdin. The visual identity of Oasis would be furthered even more by the connected colours and textures, with golden hues taking centre stage.
When asked about the progress of work done, Devansh mentioned that—barring the finishing touches that were dependent on event venues and times—most of the work was already complete. As for the panels, five out of seven had already been made, although one panel had to be remade due to it tearing.
Devansh was keen on mentioning the unity of the club. He was pleased with his time as StuCCAn, and owed a big part of that to his hardworking team. He urged the General Body to attend the fest to ensure the work put in would lead to a positive outcome. On a personal note, Devansh could not handle his excitement at the thought of Mohit Chauhan and Raftaar being on the Oasis concert setlist.