Lodhi Art District

Lodhi Colony was the last housing estate build by the British, which bears a rich history in Delhi's timeline for its iconic architecture. Since 2015, 50 renowned street artists from across the world have been invited by St+Art India Foundation to create the Lodhi Art District making it India's first art district now visited by the every day individual to foreign tourists and international dignitaries.

The inspiration for this wall comes from the social media and smartphone revolution. While working in Lodhi Colony, the artists observed how a lot of people came every day to click pictures of the murals and the work of the artists, taking selfies and group shots, or posing for fashion shoots. As a response, the artists turned the lens towards the viewer, as a comment on the selfie generation and on the nature of street art as well.

'Lavanya' (grace), is the portrait of Vimla, a lady that works at Old Khanna Market in Lodhi Colony, where she sells paranthas/Indian bread on the streets - something which is rare for a woman of her social class. Inspired by her sense of independence and dedication, Hendrik wanted to pay tribute to women who do so much in their lives balancing multiple things and running families and business, yet are mostly anonymous heroes through their lifetimes.

Reko Rennie's practice is based on a representation of his indigenous heritage and the Kamilaroi people. Using traditional geometric patterns that represent his community, Rennie provokes discussions surrounding indigenous culture and identity in contemporary urban environments.

This mural links to the historical roots of Delhi, dating back to the Pandava’s, who after losing a game of dice were exiled to Khandavaprastha – The City of Ruins. Krishna’s magic turned Khandavaprastha into Indraprastha – The City of Gods. The dead dahlias represent Delhi as a city of magic which is now crumbling apart, going back into a state of ruins.

Indian artist Blaise Joseph chose to make the portrait of a mother figure who has diverse manifestations. As mother nature, she is carrying the memories of lost lands- in an urban context, our cities, which are becoming concrete jungles are inhabited by people who are all, in some way, migrants, and hence the concrete jungle reminds them of their own mothers and mother nature represented in forests and agricultural lands, whom they have been compelled to leave behind.

Austrian artist, David Lietner depicts the repercussions of the global plastic consumption through a mural with bold monochrome brush stokes. The artwork is a combination of his first impressions of the country which left him in awe by its diversity in culture and visual landscape, but at the same time addressing the growing problem of plastic consumption as a global phenomenon. 

In a site specific collaboration with artist Hanif Kureshi, Georgia Hill reimagined a phase she is popularly known for using in her murals - "This must be the place". After visiting Old Delhi to learn more about Indian sign painting and hand lettering, the artists decided to embed the Hindi word for 'here' - 'Yahan', with the English word 'Must' - layered into one another with Georgia's signature style.

Gaia explores the impact of green house gasses and gloabal warming on our society. Using the arch of the wall, he made the Shish Gumbad, known as the glass dome in the Lodhi colony area, right in the center of the composition. Behind it, a Victorian botanical garden plays with the concept of greenhouse gases. This pairing is flanked by two hands emerging from the water signifying hope and despair. On either sides of the wall, the artist has painted one inflated globe and one deflated globe, to show the effects that globalization has on our planet.

In this mural, Li-Hill uses local narratives from India and Canada to depict the challenges of climate change by incorporating the architecture of the building to create a wonderful symmetry in his artwork.  While on the left side of the mural there is an Indian boy and a tiger representing the eastern part of the world, on the right there is a polar bear and a woman representing the west.

Saner uses elements he observed Old Delhi to create a balanced canvas that puts together a crossover between Indian and Mexican imageries. On the each sides, a man and a woman represent the order and balance in the universe, their clothes and adornments identify Mexican and Hindu traditions that create a bridge between the two cultures.

This mural depicts a scene from Indian mythology, a recurring theme in Inkbrushnme's work. This particular tale happens at the beginning of the 18 day battle of Mahabharata when Krishna manifests his Seamless Omini form called Vishvaroopa. 

Through this piece, Harsh Raman attempts to merge Kathakali, a storytelling dance form from the south of India that uses gestures and no words, with today's medium of no words — street art. Using blackboard paint in the lower part of the composition, the piece creates an open canvas for the neighbourhood children to draw and explore their creativity.

With the advent of technology and digital printing, a lot of old Indian hand traditions are being forgotten, Shekhawati painting being one of them. Mahendra Pawar from the region of Samode is an exponent of this vanishing tradition, a style of painting which is a folk tradition native to the state of Rajasthan.Plant-like arabesques, architectural features and geometric patterns are common subjects for the panels that divide the walls in spandrels of arches in Shekhawati paintings (miniature art).

Created in the Gond style of painting, the mural emphasises the importance of maintaining a balance within the ecosystem. It sheds light on the issue of the receding natural habitat that causes an adverse impact on the animals that occupy this space. Rakesh ingeniously optimises the wideness of the wall by centring the composition around an elephant whose tusks grow into branches that scale the length of the wall while playing with the shadows of the real trees in a complete integration between the mural and the surrounding

Nevercrew painted the astronaut, a recurring character in their paintings symbolising the greatness of mankind’s achievements, at the top of the wall as a metaphor for someone who can see things from a different perspective, a silent viewer of a larger picture. In this case, he is a witness to the daily activities of Lodhi Colony. A white light can be seen entering the meteor, and after passing through it gets refracted, a commentary about how everyday occurrences when viewed with artistic or creative vision become something more.

Anpu continues to push her boundaries as an artist by exploring newer forms in her work, like this mural in Lodhi Colony. From the deep recesses of a dreamscape, perpetuating the flow of lava, the tree poses to consume the entire building, shadowing the menace of our minds.

Across several cultures, birds are a symbol of diversity, identity and freedom. Often migratory travellers, they are also creatures that see and experience many different places/things and hence have a lot of stories to tell. Inspired by the beauty of nature, Senkoe painted these birds in Lodhi colony to represent the colourful diversity of the people who live there and also to encourage them to communicate with each other and share stories, just like the birds would.

Through her work in Lodhi Colony, Adele celebrated one of the most common sight in cities which are often considered ordinary, for her are magnificent creatures full of beauty and grace. The pigeons by Adele are already something notable at a distance, but the real impact of her work comes through the artist’s sheer talent in detailing the hues of the birds; once seen up close.

Lodhi Art District continues to be cultural hub, inviting people of all creative practices to engage with their city, and bringing together people from all walks of life to have shared collective experiences within the geography of India's first public art district.