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02Feb

February 2, 2017

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Lodhi Art District

St+Art has completely transfigured the look of Delhi ‘s street. A good 2 hours walk between Khanna market & Meherchand market in Lodhi Colony will leave you astounded as they illustrate their ideas into big art on the big walls. The Lodhi Colony of Delhi is now India’s very first open public art district.

If you need a guided walk, contact Aashish at +91-874-382-0466. Aashish is a student from Delhi University pursuing his Masters in English.

Art information courtesy to Start India

Fusion Art by Rakesh Kumar Memrot. The artwork deals with the issue of receding natural habitat for animals which is causing an adverse impact that reside in it. Paying tribute to native Indian art with special emphasis on trees, birds & animals with Elephant as a symbol of new beginning.

Colours of the Soul by Senkoe. Inspired by the beauty of nature, Senkoe painted these birds as a symbol of diversity, identity & freedom. Birds are also considered travellers with a lot of experience & stories. Hence he painted the birds in Lodhi Colony to represent the colourful diversity of the people who live there and encourage them to communicate with each other & share stories, just like the birds would.

The Lotus by Suiko. Playing with symbol of the Lotus, Suiko re-imagined his signature with curved lines & Japanese characters.

The Lava Tree by Anpu Varkey. Emerging from a dreamscape, perpetuating the flow of lava, the tree posits to consume the entire building, shadowing the menace of our minds.

Dead Dahlias by Amitabh Kumar. When the Pandava’s lost the first game of dice, they were exiled to Khandavaprastha – the city of ruins. Krishna, who accompanied them for the exile did some magic and overnight Khandavaprastha turned into Indraprastha, the City of Gods. This city id made of magic which is now crumbling apart. Through this intervention I’d like the viewer to catch its crumbling pieces and vanish.

Lavanya by ecb Hendrik Beikirch. Lavanya in hindi means Grace. Capturing the aura of a local woman from the community, the artist painted this black & grey portrait resembling the old style of etching. The mural stands for all the women who have several struggles in their lives and have to perform multiple roles, yet maintain the utmost grace in all their endeavours, as a reminder of finding beauty in the ordinary.

Rani Laxmi Bai by Aiko. Aiko created her biggest mural ever during St+Art with the help of 15 volunteers using 299 paper stencils and a palette of bright colours. She chose to paint Rani Laxmi Bai as a symbol of women empowerment for the country.

The Tourist by by Avinash & Kamesh. The inspiration of this wall comes from the social media/smart phone revolution. While working in Lodhi colony, Avinash & Kamesh observed how a lot of people came daily to click pictures of the murals and the ongoing work of the artists, taking selfies & group shots, or posing for fashion shoots. So the artists decided to turn the wall around on the viewer as a comment on the selfie generation.

Don’t let this symbolism kill your heart by Nafir. This piece by Iranian artist Nafir is about women’s rights in the Eastern part of the world. Living in Iran, he feels Iran & India are places where women are subjugated, as culture or traditional thought can cast a shadow on women.

Amma by Blaise. Indian artist Blaise Joseph chose to make the portrait of a mother figure which has diverse manifestations. She represents a pollinator of civilizations and society, the source of life, the indigenous communities who cultivate and develop the land, with knowledge of sustainable ecological diversity. Yet, are forced to be displaced from their homelands and lose the flora and the fauna to the notion of development. The mother painted in this artwork is in the image of Blaise’s own mother who currently resides in Kerala.

Order in Chaos by Daleast. Capturing the true essence of India which he discovered during his travels in India. In this mural, Daleast depicts how everything moves fast yet everything works, despite the chaos.

From your Strength, I weave Beauty by Shilo Shiv Suleman. Every winter, a thick blanket of fog descends over Delhi, casting everything in a misty invisibility blanket of white. Early in the morning and late in the night, the most unrecognized inhabitants of the fog emerge. In the soft pink corridors of Lodhi colony. two women sit side by side. On the left, an older woman steps out of the mist. Struggle has carved its lines into her face as she navigates the night inside her. On the other side he daughter pulls this fog out of the dark sky and weaves it into alchemical threats of gold, creating a new future for them both. Fearless.

Padma by Chifumi. Inspired by a symbolic hand gesture from India that depicts a lotus and Khmer patterns from Cambodia, Chifumi gave Delhi this cross cultural mural.

Time changes everything by Daku. If you want to get a glimpse of his work, you will have to be there at the right time. Too early in the morning or too late in the evening and you will see nothing but a blank white wall. From 9.30am, his words come into live: ‘ABILITY BALANCE ORDER CHAOS… LOVE SIZE REALITY BEAUTY MIND BODY… PERCEPTION PEOPLE MEMORY DEFINITION…..’ and other words turn sharper and bolder at noon. The only piece that replaces colour with natural light.

How is global warming by Gaia Street Art. An inflated, fully nurtured image of a globe juxtaposed with a deflated globe highlights the pre globalisation and the post globalisation era and the glass dome paired with a Victorian botanical garden explores the impact of greenhouse gases and global warming on our society.

We love Dilli by Lek and Sowat in collaboration with Hanif. Drawing inspiration from the festival of Holi, the playful nature of Delhi and the children who play cricket around this site everyday, Lek & Sowat decided to write the text ‘We Love Delhi’ in hindi which Hanif then painted on top of their Sanskrit cyphers to create an artwork which everyone in the neighbourhood could relate to and enjoy.

Vishvaroopa by Ink Brush & Me. This mural depicts a scene from Indian mythology. This particular tale is the beginning of an 18 day battle between Vishnu and Arjuna. Presented on the wall are the many forms of Vishnu, the supreme warrior. matter to antimatter, everything exists in this elaborate painting.

Katha-Crazy Twins: Chiller Champa & Boom Bhaijaan by Harsh Raman. Through this piece, Harsh attempts to merge the ancient Indian art of Kathakali, which is storytelling dance form from South India which uses gestures and no words, with todays medium of no words – street art. The two heads together represent the duality of human nature and its art thereof. The artwork was purposefully chosen for the location so as to bridge the gap between the older migrant parents who hold on to their culture, and the younger generation slowly letting go of their heritage.

Neils Shoe Meulman used the Lodhi wall to use his own words by painting a poem he wrote. he also likes to have nature involved in his works which comes in the form of brooms that he uses which are made of organic materials. Here he used the household ‘Jhadu’ bought from Khanna market. The poem reads: SANS SERIFS NO LETTERS, AND NO WORDS TO READ, SANS WORDS NO SIGNS, NO NAMES IN THE STREETS, JUST ROWS OF BUILDINGS, AND GARDENS SANS WEEDS.

The Astronaut by Nevercrew. The astronaut is a metaphor for someone who can see things from a different perspective, as a silent viewer of a larger picture. In this case, he would witness all the daily activities of Lodhi colony, perched atop.

Shekhawati Painting by Mahendra Pawar. Done over weeks with support from a diverse group of volunteers, this beautiful mural now adorns the wall opposite Khanna market and keeps the tradition of Shekhawati painting.

The Origin of the World by Borondo. This mural is symbolic of the journey of borth and life itself, with the open arch in the middle of the wall having a river flowing through it representing a journey of life and the boat representing how we traverse through it. The tunnel is also symbolic of the process of birth, how a child navigates the mothers womb to finally come out into the world to begin his/her life. And it is perfectly located opposite a maternity hospital.

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Robindro Saikhom (Robin)
Founder, Serene Journeys

Robin is the owner of Serene Journeys, a bespoke travel specialist for LGBT & communities based in New Delhi and a freelance travel photographer. Follow him on Instagram @serenejourneys or Facebook @Serene Journeys.

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