Colours, lines, shapes all conjoin to form a design. A symbol of sorts, which can be repeated, repainted, remade. Art in its original form is a way to relax for one or gather experience for another. Mumbai from the view of an artist is a whole new experience as there is a lot to do and a great number of opportunities for their art to grow and cultivate. A lifetime of art and happiness intertwines and spreads positivity and awareness in a new light. A direction, that remained unexplored throughout these past years. “Vandalism” was a term that defines graffiti and street art around the world but nowadays these graffiti artists are the ones who are the primary reasons behind the beautification of my land, Bombay. Mumbai…as now it is called, but Bombay has a feel of its own. The winding streets, colourful festivals, and the endless amount of food on the streets makes its way through each one’s heart and mind and settle’s deep into our consciousness.
Recently, I have been interning at an art gallery and from there I have realised that not all art is the same and that not all art is meant to just look pretty. Every artist has a unique and colourful mind when imagining their artwork. Hence, when the artwork is made, the touch, feel and experience of an individual piece of work is expected to be removed from another. The viewer cannot expect to undergo the same feelings and emotions when looking at two different pieces of art and this is what street art has taught me. I live very close to Lokhandwala back road, a place which is very famous for the graffiti on the walls. These paintings are mainly for beautification purposes where people take pictures along with these paintings to make their instagram feed look more “aesthetic”. However, whenever they click pictures along with the graffiti, these young adults forget the more important purpose behind these paintings. Most of the times, these artists have a cause, a unified cause which is to bring the world together to become a better place for you and me.
Street art around Mumbai or Bombay, take your pick, has an overarching view of greater world peace that will someday be achieved. They deal with topics which are controversial, such as religion, and also topics that need greater public awareness such as rape, girl-child protection and transgender acceptance. However, they also talk about lighter subjects such as traffic rules and societal rules in general. These artists have understood these problems and want to see a change and help initiate a conversation to bring the world together and unite us onto a finer chord. Them splattering a few colours on the walls are their contribution to the world for change.
What’s yours?
Image sources
1 EC’s step to rope in transgenders in its SVEEP programme in Delhi is to encourage more transgenders to enrol as voters and exercise their franchise.(Gurpreet Singh / HT Photo )
