St+Art: An aesthetic art revolution on the streets of India

An idea can change your life, and of those around you.

As cliched as it may sound, the above statement holds a lot of truth, for what started as an idea in the minds of five young enthusiasts from around the world, led to a Street Art Revolution in its most literal form.

With the dream to make art more accessible, the five Akshat Nauriyal, Arjun Bahl, Giulia Ambrogi, Hanif Kureshi and Thanish Thomas decided to get artwork on the streets in 2014. Not too happy with the existing ‘playing-safe’ galleries, contemporary museums, exhibitions, they started an initiative that staged equality for art, art for all - an initiative that brought artists from all around the world to come together and work for a single cause.

“We all come from different backgrounds, but we decided to join our strengths and take it further,” said Giulia, one of the co-founders of ST+ART India Foundation.

In their opinion, India has been a perfect platform for them because the cities here are pretty conversant on one hand and so vibrant and alive, on the other. The urge to do something for the “wasted public spaces” amidst these vibrancies led to this spellbinding creative surge to pursue a form of visual art in public locations, popularly known as Street Art.

“India has a great landscape and we wanted to add colours to it”, said Arjun Bahl, another co-founder of the ST+ART India Foundation. According to him, the streets should be an open gallery portraying the democratic nature of art. Spontaneous projects, painting walls, hoardings, bus-stands and even dustbins, they have tried filling the gaps in society in every way possible.

Photo Credits: Pranav Mehta

“The beginning was a little difficult, as people were a little skeptical about us ‘dirtying’ their walls," Giulia said laughing heartily, when asked about the hurdles they had to face in initial days.

Gradually, when people started to notice their work and acknowledge their legalities, tons and trucks of appreciations flooded in. "Questions like ‘Who are you?’, ‘What will you gain from this?’ changed to requests like ‘Do my work, Paint my walls’" Giulia said with delight.

This has not only provided our Indian artists a platform to showcase their creative streak but has beautified our cities in an unimaginable way.

Photo Credits: Pranav Mehta

Walking through Shahpur Jat or Khan Market and looking at the creative patterns on the wall, looking at the Gandhi portrait at the Delhi Police Headquarters at ITO or the Zindagi layout behind the Azadpur Metro station has mesmerized the young and the old, the men and the women, and inclined them towards appreciating the need of the hour: to have free art in our country.

This is a step not only to free the minds of people from the bondages that have existed in our patriarchal society but also the first step towards giving this art a new meaning in the lives of the 'aam aadmi'.

One of their most interesting projects has been the ‘Rain Basera’ in which they have worked on 4 night shelters in the city of Delhi for the homeless people. Not only did they enhance their visual appeal but gave a new face to these structures and hope to the residing people.

Photo Credits: Pranav Mehta

Another mind boggling part of the Rain Basera project in Sarai Kale Khan in Delhi, headed by Olek who is renowned for street art worldwide focused on women empowerment and social inclusion, used the technique of knitting in which meters of Crochet was produced in an astonishing way to wrap around the little huts in Seelampur Village. This project engaged women from villages near Noida. The most diverse people from the most varied backgrounds collaborating on one beautiful project must have been an incredible sight to witness!

Starting with Delhi and Mumbai, they plan to spread the love for art all around India. “Time is little, funds are little but hearts and motivations are big”, said Arjun. One step at a time , is what their working strategy is.

An organization created by the people with artistic minds for the artists and just for art, is something that might help to sum up this story. They aren’t here for money nor for gaining popularity, but just to present art in its purest form.

The beauty of it all lies in the fact that it does not cater to a particular set of audience, there is no wrong or right, there are just feelings. Feelings, which can be perceived by every individual in his or her own unique way, regardless of everything else crowding their minds.