Bengaluru: Bringing art out of galleries to the streets is Start India Foundation, a non profit organization that aims to not only reclaim and beautify public spaces but also to make art more democratic and use it as a voice to tell stories.
After beautifying the streets of Delhi and creating India’s highest mural (152 feet) in the capital, Bengaluru will be the canvas in the Street Art Festival this year, which will be held at various venues across the city throughout the month of October.
The festival will see about two or three large murals and numerous smaller projects, says Akshat Nauriyal, co-founder and content director of the foundation. As for the Bengaluru edition, they would like to focus more on the historical narratives and local stories.
“We want the artists to talk about their experiences and stories from their city, which is why we have included the most number of artists from Bengaluru.” Out of the fifteen artists taking part in the festival, eight of them are from the city.
MG Road, Cubbon Park and Majestic will see the larger art projects which will be open to all, while there will be numerous smaller installations, temporary pieces popping up throughout the city. “We have tied up with the BMRC to work on the metro stations and the central part of Bengaluru and more than anything else, this is about exploring context driven artwork,” Akshat explains.
Founded in 2014, the organization has organized four street art festivals so far, 3 in Delhi and one in Mumbai and one is never similar to the other, says Akshat. “We do the same festival in different formats so that it’s new every time. Like this edition is more about localized geography and less about scale.”
The festival will also host a number of workshops, screenings, talks and discussions as the month progresses. Indian artists like Daku, Harshavardhan Kadam, Ullas Hydoor and Baadal Nanjundaswamy, whose crocodile street art installations brought civic conditions to life last year.
Smaller pop-ups
The festival kicked off with temporary smaller pop-ups on Sunday as artist Daku reminded the citizens about the values that Gandhiji stood for. On the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti, numerous pop-ups were seen at garbage dumps in KR market and Indiranagar that portrayed Mahatma in a reflective vest with a broom in his hand. The idea of intent vs execution is what we wanted to convey, says Akshat. “The ‘Swachh Bharat mission’ is built in the image of the mahatma, yet how many of us actually respect and follow it?” The series is called ‘If you won’t, I will’.
