Time was his medium and he’ll without end be everlasting.
The India Artwork Truthful used these phrases to eulogise their “pricey pal” and legendary artist Hanif Kureshi, co-founder of St+artwork India.
As I sat to pen this piece, I made a decision to scour the web for op-eds, memoirs, social media condolences — something that may give me an inkling of the legend whose loss India is mourning; Kureshi handed away on Sunday on the age of 41 following a battle with most cancers.
Hours later, I ended my search with a vivid thought of the maestro forming in my thoughts’s eye. Phrases can not do justice to it; so, let me paint an image, as he would have stated.
Think about artwork that’s good, vibrant, vibrant, extravagant, alluring, and delightful — each commonplace adjective that one would affiliate with picturesque work. Additionally think about activism, forward-thinking, introspection, visionary scripts, hard-hitting messages, and thought-provoking concepts.
Now image a person expertly manoeuvring himself on the tightrope between the 2. This was Hanif Kureshi. His artwork, unabashedly daring and layered, gave type to feelings. It questioned conventional exclusivity.
Because the India Artwork Truthful put this into perspective, “His work wasn’t nearly portray murals — it was about making a bridge between artwork and on a regular basis life. His affect will stay on in each aha second his work sparked.”
Whereas a lot of the legend’s physique of labor is well known beneath his identify Hanif, when you ought to ever stumble throughout a superb portray by ‘Daku’ or ‘Guerrilla’, know that it finds its roots in the identical brush. Over time, Gujarat-born Hanif and his pseudonyms created a motion out of road artwork; one which exhibits no indicators of slowing down.
The love affair of Hanif Kureshi and his brush
Shock waves unfold by means of the artwork group on Sunday when St+artwork India Basis’s Instagram web page introduced the demise of their beloved co-founder:
“It’s with deep disappointment that we share the passing of Hanif Kureshi, our beloved co-founder, creative director and artist. We’re gutted and at a lack of phrases. Hanif was a gifted mentor, collaborator, pal, father, and husband. His imaginative and prescient and charisma helped form the panorama of public artwork in India with the numerous tasks he has contributed to. He was devoted to nurturing a group of artists, designers, and creatives who trusted him with loyal steerage. He was a pioneering determine for graffiti and road artwork along with his tags unfold throughout cities he travelled to. It has been an honour for the St+Artwork, XXL, and Guerrilla groups to have recognized and labored with Hanif over the previous 10 years. He lives on with the profound legacy he leaves behind. It’s a void that can’t be crammed and we’ll miss him dearly. We mourn his passing and pray he rests in peace,” the publish learn.
At indicators in Bengaluru, alongside highways in Mumbai, in quaint corners of Panjim, in bustling metropolitan suburbs, in antiquated streets of Lodhi the place thick layers of mud had lined any potential for magnificence, Kureshi wielded his brush. And with every stroke, a masterpiece was born.
The previous advert skilled and multidisciplinary artist contested the notion that the only goal of road artwork is to take a seat nonetheless and look fairly. He urged as a substitute that or not it’s the harbinger of social change, convey communities collectively, and lift consciousness. His work have been a medley of thought-provoking concepts.
The place modern artwork glorified English and Western scripts, Kureshi breathed life into vernacular dialects, sparing them from disappearing into oblivion. His Handpainted Kind venture, impressed by road indicators discovered on the store boards of distributors and paan sellers, was a step in the direction of preserving the typographic follow of road painters by means of digitisation. This, in flip, created an alternative for these signal painters, whose time-tested skills have been being substituted for fast-paced millennial developments.
“Typefaces are like folks,” he as soon as stated. “You knew them by the garments they wore. You may take Helvetica to a celebration and it will match it [in], whereas the one font, purple field of The Economist is so distinct.”
By means of the years, Kureshi’s work transcended the alleyways of Indian cities and moved throughout horizons. The colors of his legacy spilt onto the London Design Biennale, Venice Biennale, Centre Pompidou Paris, Triennale Design Museum, Milan, and Sikka Artwork Truthful Dubai. His work was acclaimed by progressive artists for its depiction of life in its truest type.
St+artwork India Basis: Making artwork accessible
A deep need to take artwork out of conventional galleries and make it accessible, part of town’s DNA if you’ll, colored every of Kureshi’s decisions. He co-founded St+artwork Basis in 2013 modelled on this perception. The not-for-profit organisation headquartered in Delhi noticed Kureshi, Arjun Bahl, Akshat Nauriyal, Giulia Ambrogi and Thanish Thomas decide up their brushes to color the city, actually and metaphorically.
“He [Kureshi] wished to make artwork really democratic for all. He was very obsessed with Indian streets, he discovered them very vibrant,” Bahl shared Kureshi’s reasoning.
At the moment, murals throughout 4 artwork districts in India — Lodhi Artwork District, Ukkadam Artwork District in Coimbatore, Mahim Artwork District in Mumbai, and Nochi Artwork District in Chennai — present their appreciation for St+artwork.
That’s not all. By means of the years, India has benefitted from the inspiration’s repertoire of festivals and public artwork tasks throughout Delhi, Chennai, Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Mumbai — the 2 most notable ones being the Mumbai City Artwork Competition in 2022 and the Lodhi Competition in 2023.
A stroll by means of Mumbai’s Sassoon Docks — India’s main fish export centre relationship again to 1875 — is an journey for the senses. Smells and sights compete on your consideration. In line with the theme ‘Between the Sea and the Metropolis’, the artwork was meant to painting town’s shut ties with water.
In the meantime, the Lodhi Artwork District explored the synergy between artwork for the sake of artwork, and artwork that triggers conversations in public areas. Sometime, stroll by means of this cultural hub in Delhi the place the handiwork of over 50 nationwide and worldwide artists converges. Your stroll will deal with you to murals whose soul-searching comes wrapped in vibrant shades. They may beckon you to suppose past artwork.
Whether or not it’s a mural showcasing classic Indian matchboxes embedded with cryptic messages (that bear semblance to Indian public service bulletins); murals that rework into 3D; work that spotlight the perils of a social-media-obsessed era, or those who reference the day by day life in Lodhi — carpets drying on the terrace, youngsters finding out, and sweets being offered in loads; the artwork has a lifetime of its personal.
And this emotion extends to the whole lot Kureshi’s thoughts has touched.
A stroll down the lane of Hanif Kureshi’s work
“Poignant” is how admirers of ‘Daku’s’ ‘Cycle of Time’ set up describe it to be. It has a profound affect on the viewer. Displayed on the India Artwork Structure Design Biennale (IAADB) on the Crimson Fort in Delhi in 2023, the set up encompasses a cover of phrases ‘PAST IS PRESENT IS FUTURE IS PAST’ in a trance-inducing sequence. The shadows they forged shift in tandem with the motion of the Solar, underscoring the elusive nature of time.
Kureshi’s work mixed bursts of color with a cheeky tackle societal points. That is evident in considered one of his works tracing again to 2014, particularly to the weeks main as much as the final election. 4 giant monochrome paste-ups of a center finger marked with an indelible ink blot, and captioned with the Hindi phrase ‘Mat Do (Vote)’ have been positioned throughout New Delhi. The graffiti was cheeky, compelling individuals who took it at face worth to ‘go vote’, however compelling those that learn between the strains to ‘not vote’.
Kureshi’s legacy is immortalised within the sands of time. His associates and admirers noticed him as somebody who was observant and perceptive, qualities that translated into his artwork. Artwork curator Rahul Bhattacharya hailed him as a task mannequin to many, saying, “He performed an especially vital position in popularising road artwork in India and was a task mannequin to many. Proper from the start, he was not a traditional artist. He was always exploring new avenues.”
And to this finish, Kureshi’s legacy lives on, not simply in his physique of labor, however within the bonds he fostered amongst artists and the enjoyment of individuals residing on the road whose view was Kureshi’s larger-than-life canvases.
Edited by Pranita Bhat; Photos supply: St+artwork India.
Sources:
Remembering Hanif Kureshi, the artist who breathed life into Mumbai’s streets by Sadaf Shaikh, Printed on 25 September 2024.
A One-Man Revolution: The Inventive Legacy Of The Late Hanif Kureshi by Drishya, Printed on 24 September 2024.
Portray on the wall: Road artist Hanif Kureshi remembered for making artwork democratic by The Hindu, Printed on 24 September 2024.
Hanif Kureshi’s artwork created a bridge between the road and the folks by Indian Categorical, Printed on 24 September 2024.
A Guided Strolling Tour of Lodhi Artwork District with St+Artwork India by Ankita Bhatia, Printed on 2 November 2019.
