Street art in Mumbai has become a medium to spark discourse on many themes. From celebrated film stars immortalized on the walls to thought-provoking social issues revolving around gender equality and climate activism, Mumbai’s graffiti scene has emerged as a dynamic tool for expression.
Mumbai is known as a city of dreams. Some people struggle to make those dreams turn into reality and some chase every minute just to survive in this fast-paced city. In contrast, there is chaos all around, every minute of the day, these colorful walls on certain streets brighten up a pedestrians’ day. Attracting a steady stream of tourists wanting to explore the city’s vibrant street art, the charm of Mumbai’s colorful streets extends beyond locals.
Each wall along different corners of the city spreads a different message. Although painting or art on walls is not permitted in Mumbai, Mumbaikars have whole ‘artedly’ accepted colors in their lives.
A Rajesh Khanna fan – Ranjit Dahiya has done a wall art to pay tribute to India’s ‘first superstar’. Another painting of Amitabh Bachchan from the movie Deewar is adjacent to this mural. Both these painting looks fantastic, huge, and eye-candy along the streets of Bandra on the way to Bandstand.
‘Good Graffiti’, an innovative ‘art for cause’ festival movement held a pre-pandemic welcomed emerging artists and social change leaders to showcase their work, collaborate with others, and exchange ideas. Ravi Srivastava, a representative of NGO Goonj, said that the festival was an attempt to change from within. As he recalled witnessing dirty and vulgar graffiti on public walls and inside local trains, the festival was an opportunity to become better people.
With the help of 750 volunteers, Chal Rang De team painted 170 walls and created 17 murals. While anyone with a paint brush could help in the first phase that involved painting the walls, Dedeepya (Founder of Chal Rang De) reached out to professional mural artists for the second phase, where artists from all over the country contributed to making someone else’s living space more evocative. Every piece of art on these walls is either a reflection of the slum dwellers or a message to them.
Street art, graffiti, wall paintings, etc have over the last few years taken a new turn. Mumbaikar’s stop and stare at these, many influencers record music videos and models pose using these walls as their background. It just adds colors, depth and gravitas to any message. When words fall short, art reaches the heart and this city needs more heart to heart conversations because Nokia isn’t the only communication that continues to connect people.
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