Chennai : St+art India Foundation and Asian Paints in collaboration with Chennai Corporation painted the walls at the Tamilnadu Housing Board at Thoraipakkam recently. It was done to reflect the lives of the people living in the locality.
Various events were conducted which included community wall paintings, local hip-hop crew performances, community showcases, rangoli competition, cynotoph workshop with the transwomen who were part of the making of the murals. The locality is India’s 5th art district.
A grafitti event titled ST+ART JAM curated by ZERO from Delhi also garnered a lot of attention from the locals, women, children, volunteers from SPI Edge who colour-coded the entire stretch of the buildings in the housing board. The day concluded with a series of interactive and entertaining community showcases that drew the interest of Chennaiites who visited the place.
Apart from the murals, there was also dance performances, Kannagi postcard project and redrawing Kannagi both curated by Urban Design Collective.
”Indian cities are known for their rich history and heritage. Through St+art festival, we have a golden opportunity to reinvent public spaces in these cities, especially areas like Kannagi Nagar which is one of the biggest resettlement sites in the country. Asian Paints feels privileged to have supported St+art Foundation as they successfully created Chennai’s first art district. We hope the establishment of Kannagi Art District brings much joy to its residents and visitors alike,” said Asian Paints Ltd COO Amit Syngle.
Apart from India, artists from Canada, Austria, Spain, Australia and Switzerland created the artwork to reflect the characteristic identity of the area.
State Minister for Municipal Administration S P Velumani while inaugurating the Kannagi Nagar Art District on Monday, said the ”government will launch more projects to improve the livelihood of the residents.”
Chennai Corporation has supported the artists who participated in the initiative with the assistance of Chennai Smart City Limited and St+art India.