Taking Art to India’s Streets

Non-profit St+art India is transforming the country’s urban spaces, one wall at a time.

Osheen Siva Wall-2 Reveals St+Art Goa 2019 PranavGohil-3
Osheen Siva for St+Art Goa 2019 (Pranav Gohil)

Sneha Mehta

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February 3, 2020

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8 min

In the heart of New Delhi sits Lodhi Colony, one of the last residential areas built in the 1940s during British rule. Originally a quiet, nondescript neighborhood home to government employees, Lodhi Colony today is the unlikely site of a colorful and vibrant urban renewal. Street artists from across the world have covered the colony’s wide, symmetrical facades with massive, arresting murals, ranging from typographic abstractions drawn from Indian hand-lettering to a mosaic-inspired rendition of Rani Lakshmibai. 

The organization responsible for creating this open-air art gallery is St+art India, a not-for-profit on a mission to create a uniquely Indian model of arts districts to transform the country’s urban hubs.  

By bringing art onto the streets and integrating it into existing communities and neighborhoods, St+art India has helped create community pride, boost local economies, and even stop public urination. And with St+art districts popping up across India, from Lodhi Colony in Delhi, Maqtha Art District in Hyderabad, Mahim (E) Art project in Mumbai, and the recent Panjim Art District in Goa, St+art is only getting started in transforming India’s urban spaces, one wall at a time.

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