Every wall has a story to tell here
Vibrant splashes of paint and swirling graffiti has taken over the more than 100-year old Harcourt Butler School in Delhi’s Mandir Marg. As part of the eighth anniversary celebrations of Delhi Street Art, from floor paintings to canvases, everything has been drenched in art. Also included in these celebrations was a wall painting competition and live demo sessions.
“The live art demo sessions included those on calligraphy, watercolour art, graffiti, gravity art, recycled fabric collage, recycled metal sculptures, shoe painting, photography display in repurposed window frames, etchings, canvas paintings and more,” shares Yogesh Saini, founder, Delhi Street Art, who tells us that the venue was chosen based on the school’s century-old history.
On the floor paintings that took over an entire verandah, Saini says, “We decided to take a long verandah already full of wall art and further embellish it with colourful motifs all over the floor, interspersed with motivational words for the students.”
Artist Aakshat Sinha, who participated in painting the passageway, says that he was inspired by all that was going on around him. “My aim is not to capture figures and depict realism, but to use colours, line and form to present emotions and fleeting memories that evoke varied responses. It is the viewer who interprets the work based on their mindset and precondition,” he says.
Artist Deepak Saini also had a variety of work displayed at the celebrations, including oil and acrylic canvases. He says, “A few of those art pieces were about Lord Ganesha as it was Ganesh Chaturthi recently... My inspiration always comes from social work that I do along with the street art.”