Running head: ART BLURRING BOUNDARIES 1

Art Blurring Boundaries, Case from India

Samvida Rai, r0688220

MSc Conservation of Monuments and Sites, RLICC, KU Leuven

ART BLURRING BOUNDARIES 2

Art Blurring Boundaries, Case from India

Art and the city in New Delhi, the capital of India, my country, one of the oldest civilisations in the

world with a kaleidoscopic variety and rich cultural heritage. Being a developing country for so long, it has

just moved up to newly industrialized status by the IMF but with an area of 3.3 Million sq. km and

1,210,193,422 (Census, March 2011) and still has a long way to go to reach the level of a developed nation.

I have tried to create a parallel between several examples from Africa (from South Africa and Baerbel

Mueller’s talk, Ghana) and a street art initiative in New Delhi to elaborate on the way art shapes the city,

affects understanding and liveability of the city and blurs boundaries between space and spatial frames and

every day (Mueller’s talk). To realise the impact of this initiative on the city one needs to know how the

perception of art was in the Indian society and how it is evolving. Personal observations and experiences

of the society supported by readings have made this understanding easier to put forward.

Art and the City

Perception of art in history

Even though being a democratic and secular country, India is governed by religion and spirituality.

As S. Radhkrishnan says in his book Culture of India, “From the beginning of the history, people

in India have always emphasized on those rarer and more chastened spirits whose greatness lies

in what they are and not in what they do; men who have stamped infinity on the thought and life

of the country, men who have added to the invisible force of goodness in the world.” Science, art,

defence, philosophy have always been not as important as religion and spirituality (S.

Radhakrishnan, 1944). This belief is also fueled by the caste system1, obsolete in most part of the

country now but it basically governed the social status of people depending on their

1
The caste system in India is the paradigmatic ethnographic example of caste. It has the origins in ancient
India, and was transformed by various ruling elites in medieval, early-modern, and modern India, especially the
Mughal Empire and the British Raj. Bayly, Caste, Society and Politics (2001), pp. 25–27, 392, St. John, Making of the
Raj (2012), p. 103, Sathaye (2015), p. 214.
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occupation. Brahmanas were the priests who provided for the intellectual and spiritual needs of

the community, Kshatriyas were the warriors and rulers who ruled and protected the community,

Vaishyas were the businessmen who promoted commerce and agriculture and Shudras comprised

of the artisans, craftsmen, servants who performed manual labour. System of hierarchy was created

in the society because of the misinterpretation of this symbolic explanation in the Rigveda2 of the

humanized origins of these four varnas which was erroneously championed as Divine Design [ca.

900 B.C.–600 B.C.] (Basham, 1963). To make the system more complicated, I would even like to

add that there were divisions within a varna as well. Because of all these societal segregations and

hierarchies even though art was always appreciated and promoted by kings and rulers, not

everyone was supposed to do it. This perception has changed a lot now, but the barrier still exists

as Indians are brought up to concentrate on studies to earn money which has made art very special

which only the privileged can enjoy and participate in.

New Delhi and St+art

New Delhi, the capital of India is a cosmopolitan megacity with a population of over 10 million

which is a cluster of cities spread across the metropolitan region. Old Delhi3 has been inhabited

since 6th century BC (Asher, Catherine B, 2000). It has been the capital of various kingdoms and

empires and has been captured, ransacked and rebuilt many times during the course of time. Indian

2
The Rigveda is an ancient Indian collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns. It is one of the four canonical sacred texts
of Hinduism known as the Vedas. The text is a collection of 1,028 hymns and 10,600 verses, organized into ten books
(Witzel. M, 1997, De Nicholas. A, 2003).

3
Old Delhi or Purani Dilli is a walled city of Delhi, India, founded as Shahjahanabad in 1638, when Shah Jahan,
the Mughal emperor at the time, decided to shift the Mughal capital from Agra. The construction of the city was
completed in 1648, and it remained the capital of the Mughal Empire until its fall in 1857, when the British Raj took
over a paramount power in India. Spear, Percival (2012) “Delhi: A Historical Sketch – The Mogul Empire” The Delhi
Omnibus, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, p.26, History of Mughal Architecture By R. Nath, Abhinav
Publications, 2006, City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi By William Dalrymple, Olivia Fraser, HarperCollins, 1993
ART BLURRING BOUNDARIES 4

cities vary from big towns to megacities with tens of millions of people living or commuting every

day. They are more like breathing machines. The way art is perceived varied in different regions

in India but with the advent of contemporary artists, this perception is slowly changing. Various

art initiatives, events, festivals are now organized by different foundations which not only promote

art by not putting it up on a pedestal to admire and be overwhelmed by its greatness but to engage

with and inspire new modalities of making life in the city.

One of the recent art initiatives which has been creating waves not only in the capital but also in

the other major cities of the country is the St+art project, which is a non-profit organisation run by

an interdisciplinary team of artists since 2014 which aims to embed art in the streets by

collaborating with local and international artists and organizations. Their purpose was to break out

of the gallery structure and use public spaces to experience art as thousands of people cross these

areas on a daily basis and the works have resulted in reclamation of civic spaces and transformation

of the urban fabric. The project’s intention was to make public spaces vibrant and interactive and

to make art democratic as a medium (A. Nauriyal, 2017). A parallel can be seen with the Ghanaian

artist Ibrahim Mahama’s approach as his installations encompass various sites, buildings,

landscapes and people of his everyday existence and transform contexts to reveal spatial realities,

says O. Bonus an art Curator. The St+art foundation targeted residential neighbourhoods in the

city- Lodhi Colony which is owned by the government to avoid chances of gentrification, Shahpur

Jat- an urban village expanding with cafes and popular amongst the youth of the city and public

buildings like the Delhi Police Headquarters and Metro stations. Their choice of spaces and

buildings was well thought of and was done after understanding the locality, use and context for a

successful piece as some of these spaces are just functional and become part of the routine and

inert in the way they exist. Permissions were taken top down or bottom up depending upon the
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type of building and area and the project is funded by the Consulates of the country of the artist

they were collaborating with and the biggest paint company of India. One of the greatest works is

a portrait of Mahatma Gandhi on the Police Headquarters of New Delhi which is a collaborative

work of German artist Hendrik Beikirch and Indian artist Anpu. The two artists painted a 158-foot

mural on the façade of a government building which was a huge breakthrough in the historical

timeline of street art in the world as graffiti if not street art has always had negative connotations

of vandalism. It is not only significant for the scale of work but is more relevant as it marked a

first of its kind engagement and collaboration with the government for an art project of this kind

(A. Nauriyal, 2017).

As the art created by the group is painted on the walls and is not a three-dimensional object

that takes space (even though it transforms the space) the impact was multi-faceted and layered.

Every space reacts differently depending on use and ownership. In a neighbourhood like Shahpur

Jat, the residents started feeling an increased sense of ownership and a sense of community pride

which was missing earlier. These artworks usually become recognized landmarks and used for

giving directions by the residents or getting their pictures clicked with these artworks. The locality

and the buildings become well known in the community and the organization was approached by

more owners to paint their walls. In bigger localities like the Lodhi Colony, there is some big or

small activity happening all the time. The works have activated the spaces in the colony and made

people unconsciously aware about societal etiquettes as men don’t urinate on the walls as people

stop their cars to object such activities. “The impact could be simple, maybe it just makes people

feel better or it distracts, or it makes them think, but it could also have deeper meanings of

community building or keeping the neighbourhood clean” (A. Nauriyal, 2017).

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The St+art project is now not only limited to Delhi but has now started working in other

metropolises of Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru. They have tried to address many social issues

like prostitution, acceptance of the LGBTQ community in the society as equally skilled and that

they can contribute equally. These pieces are site specific and a similar example is a night shelter

made by the Delhi Urban Shelter Board where they worked with Olek, an American crochet artist.

Almost thirty women from different socio-economic backgrounds worked together to synthesize

this project where one-kilometre long fabric was used to cover the entire night shelter and

transform it. They not only focus on giving new life to spaces but try to spread awareness about

topics and people the society has forgotten. An example to explain it better is the Dadasaheb Phalke

mural painted on an old government service office in Mumbai. Phalke is the father of Bollywood

and the first person to make a moving image in India but nobody knows about him. When the

mural was put up, it not only gave a new image and identity to the building but also made people

think and investigate amongst themselves about who’s face was it and the significance of that

person in our history (A. Nauriyal, 2017).

India, Ghana, South Africa

The projects and initiatives in Baerbel Mueller’s talk in Ghana have different ways of getting art

in the city. Some do not need a space or stage for exhibition, as the city itself becomes the stage,

some are more formal spaces made solely dedicated for creating and showcasing art. The same is

true for India and most of the other countries in the world irrespective of their economic status.

Even in a country like South Africa where questions like “Our imaginations have lived so long

with the … deadening images of power drawn on the ground ... Can we begin to shift our

experiences and our visions to capture the world of always-moving spaces? What do the spaces of
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dynamism and change look like?” (J.Robinson, 1998) were asked in the post-apartheid days, many

international arts festivals are now organized which are focused on music, film, theatre, dance,

sculpture, photography or painting, or all of the above. These are crucial sites for bringing cities

on the world map which if often true for the smaller cities and make the African cities alive even

if it is for a few days and give them the dynamic character of the continent’s “always-moving

spaces”. But there have always been comments that these events are shallow expressions of deep

local culture. (G. Myers, 2010). Projects like St+art in India or the works of artist Ibrahim Mahama

have the same concept of using art as an intervention in the existing public space to transform

contexts and reveal new spatial realities. The materialization of the art space depends on the value

and message a particular initiative wants to put across. At the more spatial and urban level a lesson

must be learnt at the policy making level for imaginative cities to consider the ideas of artists,

writers, architects and planners around the world as they seek new and more humane visions of

the world’s cities which is quite evident from the considered examples and their similarities to

each other (G. Myers, 2010).

Conclusion

The St+art project is just one of the many art initiatives that have been working in different cities

of India and addressing the bigger issues of cities and society. This is creating dialogues amongst

the people, not only known but also strangers which is letting them put their thoughts and opinions

forward. These initiatives ignite discussions about interesting and relevant topics which are lost in

the mundanities of the fast life of cities. And this in my opinion is one of the most successful ways

art blurs boundaries at the social (everyday) level. Moreover, these interventions have also started

to create a shift from the earlier perception of art which was supposed to be housed in high-end
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galleries and only accessible by the wealthy, is blurring the boundaries between the space and

spatial frames and every day. The most interesting part of this project is the fact that the

organization doesn’t own any space in the city from where it functions as it works only in

collaborations and doesn’t even require a space in three dimensions to create their work. Therefore,

it is an excellent example of an intervention, though minimally intrusive at the spatial level but

perfectly activating the urban spaces and actors.

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References

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Bayly, S. (2001). Caste, Society and Politics. Cambridge University Press. 25–27.

St. John, I. (2012). Making of the Raj. California: Praeger. 103.

De Nicholas, A. (2003). Meditations Through the Rig Veda: Four-Dimensional Man (5th ed.).

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Witzel, M. (1997). The Development of the Vedic Canon and its Schools: The Social and

Political Milieu. Harvard Oriental Series, 2, 259-264.

Basham, A. L. (1963). The wonder that was India. New York, USA: Hawthorn Books.

Asher, Catherine B (2000). Chapter 9: Delhi walled: Changing Boundaries. In James D.

Tracy. City Walls.Cambridge University Press. 247–281.

Langar, S. Z., & Nauriyal, A. (2017, August 8). This Street Art Foundation Is Transforming India's

Urban Landscape—With the Government's Support. Retrieved from

https://www.archdaily.com/876705/this-street-art-foundation-is-transforming-indias-urban-

landscape-with-the-governments-support

Spear, Percival (2012). Delhi: A Historical Sketch – The Mogul Empire The Delhi Omnibus. New

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Dalrymple, W. (1993). City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi. UK: Penguin Books.

Myers, G. A. (2010). Seven Themes in African Urban Dynamics. Discussion Paper 5, 50, 1-28.

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Mueller, B. (2017). Art Acupuncturing Accra and.. - Talk