Graffiti, graffiti, on the wall

Amarjot Kaur

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Otherwise grey, the brutalist architecture of the meticulously planned Chandigarh offers little respite to those looking to explore its colourful side. The city’s tryst with graffiti may have begun with shoddy doodling of women’s genital organs in public toilets, but, of late, it has taken the more suitable content to its walls for the public to see. Graffiti has finally found its place in the city, as an expression of popular culture.

Presently, Chandigarh’s walls host some six graffiti artworks; two of which are in clear view at places like Sector 35-C’s wall (adjoining Domino’s Pizza) and the boundary wall of a house in Sector 19-D, abutting Sarovar Path.

The graffiti at the inner markets and buildings of Sector 10, 11, 22, 36, and 37, however, offer an interesting account of city’s pop culture influences, especially the one made on the rear market of Sector 11 and the other in Sector 22-B. 

Another brick in the wall

About a year ago, Sachita Aditi Sharma had painted Pink Floyd’s eighth album, Dark Side of the Moon’s cover art, on a wall right next to Lahori’s tea stall in Sector 11. “I wanted to paint this wall because Chandigarh’s educated middle-class hangs out for ‘chai and sutta’ at Lahori’s. The artwork spells their influences in music. I tried to take permission from the UT administration, but they are either inaccessible or not very keen on this issue. Also, that area needed to be cleaned, so we did that and beautified it too,” says the 25-year-old artist who is now based in Hyderabad.

Sachita shares that she had invited a few friends to sponsor her graffiti equipment. “A friend, who now lives in New Zealand, was generous enough to spare Rs 3,000 for this project, and the amount that we were falling short of was made up for by the visitors at the tea stall. They shelled out Rs 100 each,” she adds.

Earlier, Sachita had intended to paint the walls behind Sector 35-C’s market to keep the ‘let’s take a leak on the wall’ brigade at bay. She withdrew her decision due to lack of support by the administration and hoteliers at the venue. Instead, she painted a wall at an orphanage in Sector 44-A and now runs a commercial art initiative called The Adroit Factory in Hyderabad.

Chandigarh’s Chaplin 

In 10 years, city-based artist Sawan Madman, a pass-out from the Government College of Arts, Sector 10, has made over 15 graffiti artworks in tricity.

Last year, he made one at a house in Sector 22-B. The graffiti draws inspiration from The Kid, a silent comedy-drama film starring Charlie Chaplin who also directed and produced it in 1921.

“Graffiti is an expression of protest and is regarded as an act of vandalism, but I paint in residential areas after seeking the owners’ permission. To my surprise, Chandigarh folks are keen on making their city look more colourful,” he says. The owner of the house, Rhythm Aggarwal, agrees with Sawan as he adds, “I think Chandigarh could do with a little more splash of colours. Many people have complimented the art on this wall.” 

Sawan shares that he wanted to make a satirical artwork, showing Charlie Chaplin hiding with the kid, to question the law of vandalism associated with graffiti. “This artwork is slightly sarcastic; but, then, that’s how graffiti is. Look at Banksy’s graffiti, for instance,” he adds.

Commercially, Sawan has been painting at restaurants, bars, cafés, and schools, but graffiti is his personal, creative expression. “I get paid for commercial art, but not for graffiti. However, the Aggarwals at Sector 22 were generous enough to help me with paints for the ‘Chaplin and the Kid’ graffiti.”

For the love of Corbusier

In Sector 36, Alliance Francaise’s building hosts two mural-cum-graffiti artworks. While one juxtaposes the architectural elements of India and France, the other denotes Open Hand as a symbolic metaphor for ‘giving and receiving’.

Meher Vadhera, a 23-year-old student at MCM DAV College for Women, Sector 36, is a part of city-based artist collective called Musawar. They had made a mural-cum-graffiti for the French institute, last year, after seeking its director’s permission. “He wanted something that resonated with Indian and French culture. We called it ‘The Confluence Project’ and with mirror image, we balanced out four architectural buildings in India with four of those in France, while keeping Le Corbusier as a combining force,” shares Meher.

It took Musawar’s eight artists some 13 days to complete the graffiti, using mix media on Flex. You can also spot glimpses of Vincent van Gogh’s ‘Starry Night’ in the artwork.

Image of crows along with the Open Hand makes for the content of the other graffiti at Alliance Francaise. The cultural coordinator of the institute, Shilpi, informs, “Marco 93, a well-known French graffiti artist, made this one.” On what made Marco paint crows, we stand informed that Le Corbusier was nicknamed ‘crow’ by his friends. 

Well, our city is getting a facelift of sorts; some are calling it vandalism, others say it is art, and then there are those complaining of vulgar sketches in public toilets. Where do you stand?

amarjot@tribunemail.com