BLOG 1:TRAVEL BLOG
- TITLE: A Visit to Shahu Nagar (ART DISTRICT)
Old, peeling buildings in Mumbai’s Mahim East and Dharavi, one of world’s largest slum, become the canvas for life-size murals
- SIGNIFICANCE: This area in Mumbai is well known for its artistic wall arts all around the town. It gathers a lot of eyeballs for its creative art showcase. Every wall art has its own significance & message to convey. These wall arts are created by the local people (Who are artist indeed). Their artwork has inspired many foreigner artists all around the world who have now joined the hands with these local people in there work.
People around the globe consider Dharavi as an imitation form of whole India which depicts poor people and their poor leaving standards. But these artists have now changed the view to look at these areas. Now they are more beautiful then they were. People across the globe come here to get this artistic view.
People around the globe consider Dharavi as an imitation form of whole India which depicts poor people and their poor leaving standards. But these artists have now changed the view to look at these areas. Now they are more beautiful then they were. People across the globe come here to get this artistic view.
PLACE TO VISIT (ADDRESS) :
Jasmine Mill Rd, Shahu Nagar, Mahim East, Dharavi, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400017
HOW TO VISIT:
Continue on Dharavi Depot Rd. Take Sion-Bandra Link Rd to Dharavi Main Rd/Mahim Railway Fatak Rd
8 min (2.1 km
Drive to Jasmine Mill Rd
BY TRAIN: TILL MAHIM STATION.
- WHAT TO SEE:
ST*ART INDIA FOUNDATION RECENTLY CONCLUDED THEIR MUMBAI 2017 URBAN ART FESTIVAL. Starting from western railways, they have collaborated with BMC to invite people to visit Mahim, Shahu Nagar
A residential building in Mahim features a larger-than-life mural of an Indian woman
This mural in Mahim presents a little boy holding an umbrella amidst a rain of flowers
- A Girl hanging upside down
Once complete, the Mahim (E) Art District will be St+art India’s second public open-air art district and will witness the coming together of Indian and international artists and urban designers regenerating several of Mahim (E)’s common spaces and transforming them into vibrant art spaces. The project aims to create a public art district by populating the Shahu Nagar colony till 60 feet road – with large size murals and urban design interventions.
Over the next few weeks, Indian and international artists will work to create around large murals on the facades of Shahu Nagar arriving till 60 feet road and also tactical cost-effective and creative urban design interventions along with communities to generate a permanent improvement of the neighbourhood.
A boy rides a bicycle past a wall mural in Mumbai
- A worker
Artist line up for Mahim (E) Art District
- Avinash Kumar
- Guido Van Helten
- Locopopo
- Pragyesh Parmar
- Sajid Wajid
Mahim (E) Art District aims to create a positive impact on the area and its residents, while also paving the way towards making people more conscious about their environment. Furthermore, various range of activities such as curated tours and jams will be organised with direct involvement of the residents/locals.
When one utters the word ‘art’, what immediately comes to mind? Canvases featuring abstract strokes of paint displayed in palatial spaces? Patrons in full regalia, sipping champagne out of delicate flutes? The common man being able to earn only a fraction of the selling price of the painting in his entire lifetime? These were the nagging thoughts at the back of the minds of four artists who decided that they didn’t want art to remain in the elitist confines of galleries and auction houses anymore. They created St+art Foundation, an initiative supported by Asian Paints, that set in motion a much-needed urban art intervention. St+art Festival enlists the help of renowned Indian and international artists who embark on a mission to transform city localities.
ARTIST INFORMATION :
Emmanuel Jarus, a Canadian artist known for color and figure compositions that fit the walls and surroundings along the streets and landmarks of cities in Canada, the United States and Mexico, has just given finishing touches to his work on a Mahim street.
The Consulate General of Canada in collaboration with St+art India Foundation got Mr. Jarus to Mumbai under a public art initiative aimed at getting people to explore the area and bring in footfalls. Mr. Jarus painted from November 13 to 21. (2017)
In association with the Brihanamumbai Municipal Corporation, St+art India Foundation is working to establish a public art district in Mahim.
PERSONAL VIEW :
Historically, street art always existed in the form of graffiti on walls. While there is no distinction between the two, graffiti has been always associated with vandalism. What was earlier a tool of the oppressed to communicate their stories and mark territories has evolved into art today. India is no stranger to graffiti culture. But the movement taking over our streets now is not just to reclaim public spaces and spread social messages but also to beautify cities. Mumbai, for example, has been using street art to rejig underdeveloped areas of Dharavi (Asia’s biggest slum) and other economically backward sections. Similar to Delhi’s Lodhi Colony, Mahim (east) has emerged as Mumbai’s art district.
REFERENCE: HINDUSTAN TIMES, ARTICLES
Wriddhi 
