Saturday was completely dedicated to quench the creative thirst. I spent the whole afternoon wandering in and around ICD (Inland Container Depot) at Tughlakabad, Okhla. Street Art Festival (ST+ART) celebrated the biggest and grandest event for the street art and graffiti lovers. It offered a peek into incredible work of artists from all over the world. Though the show is on till 6th March but for now let me take you on a virtual walk of the show. Here is how the walk through painted containers went at WIP – The Street Art show.

“Temple of Graffiti” At WIP The Street Art (ST+ART) show

Creation of an Indian artist Harish Raman, this piece was titled as “Temple of Graffiti”. Like we believe that our God will protect us from all evil the idea behind this painting was that street art should be protected as well. This Sadhu is symbolic to God of Graffiti who is cool and chic like street art but yet conventional like Gods. Just below this container a temple is created which has another painting with the same saint blessing everyone with both hands and legs. He is symbolic to meditation, discipline and faith.

“Going Bananas” At WIP The Street Art (ST+ART) show

This piece was by an artist from France named “Lek & Sowat” and was titled as “Going Bananas”. The containers were essentially used for shipping bananas all over the country. The idea behind this installation was something which was created by an Indian tribe who have their own language which is not comprehended by anyone else. The bamboos represent a layer of protection from the outside world. The text written were immediately erased by water as the artist believed in destroying what they create which makes the text absolutely illegible.

“Bali” At WIP The Street Art (ST+ART) show

The most interesting structure in the show was “Bali”. Created by an Indian artist Amitabh Kumar. It was a 3D structure which would only make sense if you see it from a certain marked point. This headless beast is symbolic to sites like landfill that houses things which the city doesn’t want to acknowledge.

“Cosmic Egg” At WIP The Street Art (ST+ART) show

This was titled as “Cosmic Egg” created by Rome based artist “Agostino Iacurci”. The egg is symbolic to initial process of creation of life and the cosmic chaos which is ensued after the birth, after it is hatched.

“House is Black” At WIP The Street Art (ST+ART) show

This piece was aptly named as “House is Black”, which was created by an Iranian artist Nafir. The theme showcases social and political issues of his country. The art majorly speaks about the condition of women because he thought it was same in India as it was in Iran. The container displays “thousand faces” which represents thousand women of Iran who were arrested for their act towards women liberation.

“Banana” At WIP The Street Art (ST+ART) show

This one was a simple and creative piece in the whole show. Created by an Indian artist “Painter Shabbu”, this piece was named as “Banana”. The artist hails from a village near Lucknow and had experience in painting Bollywood posters and fruit juice stalls. The container has Banana written all over it with colorful strokes of paint. The piece not only showcases his roots to painting but also connects to the fact that these containers were used for shipping bananas all over the county.

“BREATHE” At WIP The Street Art (ST+ART) show

This piece was named as “Breathe” which is created by a Delhi based anonymous artist “Daku”. This was probably the simplest art forms in the show with the deepest meaning. This art form read BREATHE and was an ironical take on Delhi’s rising pollution as it was written using a special black ink made from PM2.5 material which causes air pollution.

“Calligraffiti” At WIP The Street Art (ST+ART) show

This piece was created by an Amsterdam based artist “Niels Shoe Meulman”. He is popular for revolutionizing the art of writing as he brought in the concept of Calligraffiti which is a fusion of Calligraphy and Graffiti. At WIP he had spread his magic across four huge containers in three layers. The first layer showcases the graffiti, the second depicts abstract art created with broom (made of natural materials) and the third layer was dedicated to Calligraffiti. He was intrigued by the Indian broom and he took some along back to Amsterdam.

“Fruits of Childhood” At WIP The Street Art (ST+ART) show

This piece was named as “Fruits of Childhood” created by a Delhi based artist “Anpu”. She painted a kid’s portrait on the container to represent German expressionism and bring forward the content which are of intimate nature in the public realm. The portrait also aims at connecting each and every audience with their childhood by raising a personal and intimate discourse based on their childhood.

“Mirage” At WIP The Street Art (ST+ART) show

“Mirage” is created by a Spain artist “Borondo”. The art is abstract in nature and is inspired by the magnificent Mysore palace. It basically represents the contrast nature of the facts and reality in ones life. For instance the people working at Container Depot deal with high value products every day but yet accessing those products in their real lives is far away from the reality. He wanted to convey that the real richness lies in the poor and common people who slog to cater the rich.

“See Through/See Beyond” At WIP The Street Art (ST+ART) show

This piece was created by Switzerland based artist “Nevercrew” and was named “See Through/See Beyond”. The idea behind this art piece was to convey that an Astronaut is an explorer and has the capability of viewing and perceiving things in one glance and that too from a far distance. The viewer gets to experience the larger picture of time and space while exploring something new and unique.  Holistically it points at progress.

“Matruka” At WIP The Street Art (ST+ART) show

This piece is named as “Matruka” and was done by Pune based artist “Harshvardan Kadam” also popular as “Inkbrushnme”. Matruka is a Sanskrit word which means “The Mother Goddess”. This piece was created with an intent to showcase the feminine side of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva which are known as Brahmini, Vaishnavi and Shakti. It is an attempt to convey that the female power cannot be overshadowed by their male counterparts in any way.

There were many more containers and for a lot of them I couldn’t gather the much needed information to document here. But I will definitely include the pictures of those master pieces.

If this is something that interests you then you should definitely plan a visit. It is worth every effort. The show has been extended till 6th March so you have got some time in hand.

How to reach: Nearest Metro Station: Govindpuri (Violet Line)                             Entry Fee: Nil                                                                                                             Time: 12:00 Noon – 07:00 PM

For more details on this you can visit their official website here.

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