Creating public canvases

Unlike traditional art, street art is distinguished by the fact that it has a community aspect and is painted in the open rather than in a studio. Street artists don’t hold ownership of a mural or graffiti they work on, rather, public art is perceived as a collective project. Despite its growing popularity around the world, street art is often portrayed as vandalism. In this context, the images of graffiti art on the Berlin wall, and on the Paris underground metro come to mind. Yet, artists who paint street art can have powerful social and political messages behind them, one that they seek to communicate to the public at large. Street art has also been termed ‘the voice of the oppressed’. For example, a secretive German artist known as ‘Alias’ who passed by Auroville in January 2016 says that he began spray-painting at the age of 14 in his parents’ village in Germany as a means to protest a proposed dumping ground for nuclear waste. ‘Alias’ is known for his significant impact on the cityscapes of Berlin but his work can also be seen in Paris, Rome, Bristol, Istanbul and, recently. India and Auroville.

India is experiencing a boom in street art promoted by events such as the Street Art Festival in New Delhi, which has become the capital of street art in India. Places like Mumbai, Varanasi, and Pune are not far behind. Pondicherry also has more and more sightings of street art. Although collective art projects take place in Auroville in schools and in the Youth Centre from time to time, there is no lack of public art in Auroville. Whether it is an original information board in Pitchandikulam forest, a drive along the Surrender stretch where you see colourful sign posts, a visit to the water service and the sight of the beautiful blue mural, or a stop at the upside down car near Future School that gets a fresh lick of paint every few years, Auroville is an incubator for its own kind of public art.

Probably for this reason, street artists who pass through do not hesitate to leave behind some ink for thought. These are sometimes of a more thought-provoking nature than some of the work referred to above. For example, Alias’ signature work often depicts forlorn children and men often in unpredictable places, and he presents his subjects bewildered by harsh situations. By focusing on one individual at a time, he presents his audience with tragic stories that are accentuated by his choice of location, which effectively acts as an extension of the concept. One of the works portrayed in Auroville shows a teenage school-boy in a fearful state, hiding his face with his hand and caught in an intense body language. The onlooker can immediately relate to similar scenes from everyday life. This makes for poignant effectiveness. All of us are naturally wired to react to injustice. With each work of art, ‘Alias’ alters individuals’ state of mind. This particular stencil is called ‘shame’ and Alias says, ‘One of the most important aspects of my work is the placement of the image in the urban context. This particular one was created in an intimate emotional context, and in this case it worked perfectly with the destroyed building as background.’ Although his trip to Auroville was mainly about travelling and taking photos, he did leave us a few of his works of art behind, albeit with glue rather than paint, which means they have a limited lifespan.

Another street artist who has left her mark in Auroville is Oregon-born artist Marichelle, who has been interning with Sankalpa for the last few months. When Krupa was invited by Sandeep to do a mural on two BSNL telephone boxes, she approached Marichelle with the idea. In contrast to ‘Alias’ who had a very direct message, Marichelle’s intentions were more subtle but no less meaningful. One of the murals she helped paint was designed by Aurovilian Olga and depicts a vintage telephone box. ‘For this mural, I aimed to incorporate the idea of peace,’ says Marichelle, ‘as this particular area’s development seems to be controversial in Auroville, and I intended it to act as a bridge between two parties in conflict.’ She adds, ‘for the London telephone box mural near the Kindergarten, my colleagues and I chose to paint a depiction of Gandhi making a telephone call in a red telephone box. We perceive him as the icon of peace and ‘the father of India’. Furthermore, I was told that he is believed to be the first to have made a telephone call in India. I also envisaged the London telephone box as a reflection on the Britain-India relations, and then settled on painting a ‘chai’ stand beside it, to stay true to the local culture of tea drinking.’

Although street art in Auroville generally blends into the surrounding over time, a week after the London telephone box mural was finished, Marichelle was asked by Sandeep to paint over the mural depicting Gandhi. ‘The community wasn’t happy with the depiction of Gandhi,’ she explains. ‘Probably it was thought to be a political symbol. This stimulated an open discussion about things like censorship in India.’ Some of the other artists from Auroville, New Delhi and Mumbai, with whom Marichelle collaborated to paint the London telephone box, explained to her that censorship is common and that each had experienced it in their own careers as artists. ‘This helped me to cope with some of the frustration that I initially felt. One of the girls told me that I can’t get upset over every person who tells me what to paint and what not to paint.’ Perhaps this is the reason why ‘Alias’ always paints at night and with a cloth over his face and then leaves the scene. In the context of Marichelle’s work, the metaphor for the layers of the mural’s paint is the layers of collaboration that were necessary in order to finalise this project. Now, the depicted character bears a close resemblance to Sherlock Holmes. ‘At the end of the day, despite what I learned, I still feel like my artistic voice was taken away. But my intention was to bring people together and that’s what this project did for me.’ Reflecting on the experience, Krupa shares: ‘It became a deeper story, the experience was a practical level example of what it takes to manifest real human unity.’

Other examples of street art can be found at the Skatepark, called Concrete Jungle, near Dana, where the sides of the ramps are covered in graffiti. ‘The paintings change every few years as different artists come and cover up the old paintings. Each artist also knows that his or her work is not going to be displayed forever, so they aim for maximum impact,’ says Dylan, one of the regular skaters who has seen the art change many times over the last decade. Tanguy was one of the few artist passers-by who painted the skate park ramp, his best work being a large blue face. Another highlight of the ephemeral nature of street art is the favourite and must-capture picture of the upside-down car. It gets a new look every few years. From permanent residents to short term guests, the car gets revamped without any question of who owns it or decorates it.

Although Auroville may not be described as a street art utopia for the lack of suitable surfaces, today’s graffiti gurus travel the world creating canvases and it’s only a matter of time before more of them end up in our little corner of the world.