Nothing like gigantic green tentacles stretching out to the streets, over a busy road to stop Mumbaikars and do a double-check. It wasn't an alien attacking the Jindal Mansion on Peddar Road, nor a birthday party gone wild, but an art installation. This and 20-odd other art projects across the city have been created as a part of the St+art Mumbai festival that is on till November 30, giving the city a colourful face lift.
St+art focuses on providing a platform to Indian and international street artists and illustrators with the city’s spaces — both public and private — as their canvas. “We wanted to get art out on the streets, showcase it to everyone,” says Arjun Bahl, the festival director. The initiative fits right with the city that lacks this kind of open, quality art that is accessible to all.
Popular places and streets of Bandra have served as the canvas for the 20 participating artists. St.Jude Bakery, Hawaiian Shack, Bandra Residency, New Friends Colony building, Aseema School and more such places have the artists’ impressions on them. There are a few who have ventured beyond Bandra like international street artist Filthy Luker whose ‘Octo’ at the Jindal Mansion grabbed eyeballs and German street artist Tona’s ‘little girl’ at the Dharavi Community Toilet.
After St+art India Foundation’s success with the Delhi edition, the natural progression seemed to expand it to other cities as well. “The response at Delhi was great, so we wanted to make it bigger. And Mumbai is an obvious choice,” says Giulia Ambrogi, the exhibition curator for St+art, which is featured as a part of Google’s Street Art Project.
“Each artist has been creating an artwork in their own style but with elements from the neighbourhood to make it familiar for the locals,” she explains. “While choosing artists, we start with by asking how a particular artist can create a dialogue with a particular surrounding. One needs to be sensitive enough to feel the place, but also, at the end of the day it’s their personal expression.”
The artists, many of whom are in India for the first time, see this as an opportunity for cultural exchange. Tika is an urban artist from Switzerland who has been working on the wall of the New Friends Colony building. “I was inspired by the name of the building to showcase a gathering of animals that would not be seen together in real life. It is my take on how each individual has a character that is reflected in animals,” she explains. As part of the process, Tika interacted with the people on the streets and the residents of the building to find out what animals they like, because “they would feel like a part of the work.”
Artists Tona, Seikon from Poland and Daan Botlek from Netherlands will also conduct a workshop for the children from Dharavi on street art, and is supported by the European Union National Institutes for Culture.
Also part of St+art Mumbai are the MAGMA exhibitions at St.Jude Bakery in Bandra and the Upadrastha House at Kala Ghoda focusing solely on street art. These exhibitions will be open to the public till December 14 and 15 respectively.
(Photos: Akshat Nauriyal)
