SINHGAD COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE, VADGAON

SHAPING THE STREETS: CONTEMPORARY STREET ART IN PUNE.

TEJAS KALE I DR. MANJUSHA GOKHALE I AR. BIJAL VAKHARIA I AR. Sarika Thakoor
E-MAIL: TK17091999@gmail.com
ABSTRACT:

Street Art has been growing into an evolutionary act in India, making the method of
inspiration real. The shape of street art has developed into a positive role that is constantly changing in
society. They are often anarchic, they also can be a medium for social change, or it could simply be the
beautification of an existing cityscape. This paper observes the street art in the city with its concept and
surveys its social aspect and positive role in the streetscape. The study conducted using mixed methods, with
data gathered from survey sampling and case study.

KEY WORDS: street murals, street art, cultural relationship, public spaces, graffiti

1. INTRODUCTION:
Pune, a sprawling city in the western Indian state of Maharashtra, was once the base of Peshwa of the
Maratha empire which, can be seen through the city's ornate building facades, architectural style,
monuments, and visitor's sites. In recent years street art has been rapidly covering the town from corners to
the walls. Street art is seen in the city from, prison building walls to institutional building walls

Street Art is often defined as unsanctioned art projects in public spaces, created by artists for
themselves, often making a statement or expressing a sentiment against a common subject. It has been part
of various societies around the globe. They were used as a symbol of revolt in the hoods, New York to
Berlin, Germany, to narrate the story of torment and change the city has gone through

The trend has been used positively by the government authorities for spreading social awareness about
various topics in the city. Street art has become a prominent addition to the city's streetscape. The ' visarga '
mural is a fine example of the local culture and its people. The graffiti (figure 2,3) are examples of humour
laced with local words.

Figure 1 Figure 2: at Deccan

Figure 3: at katraj Figure 4: at Lokmanya nagar

 While reviewing the literature, I found a gap in knowledge about the local street art and a lack of
literature on it. This study attempts to address the following research questions:
a. Do people prefer mural over blank walls?
b. Has street art become an integral part of the city streetscape?
Various research objective guides the process of this study:
a. To determine the concept, and colour scheme of street art.
b. To examine the effect of street murals on the surrounding environment.
This paper studies contemporary street art in Pune, the street murals finalized for conducting the analysis are
located in peths of Pune city as it has diverse Murals. The study has carried out using mixed methods, with
data gathered from survey sampling and case study.

2. LIMITATIONS:
a. This study covers only a few of the street murals in the town.
b. The actual interpretation of the street mural is not possible if the artist is unknown.

3. LITERATURE REVIEW:
In the last several research papers, researchers have studied various aspects related to street art like
vandalism, politics of the space, type of art, cultural heritage. There have been various area-specific or artist-
specific studies done.
A paper by Stephen POON (International Journal of Cultural and Creative Industries 16 November
2016) [1] Is about street murals as a unique tangible cultural heritage. It is a mixed method research with
data gathering from survey sampling and interviews. This case study looks at street murals in Georgetown,
the capital city of Penang state in Malaysia, as a fertile form of community art practice, and discusses the
critical issues surrounding its preservation as a unique, tangible cultural heritage. The research argues for a
continuous shaping of street mural as unique, tangible heritage through recognition, validation, promotion
and preservation of street art not only within the urban site, but for the other states in multi-ethnic Malaysia
A paper by Antje Akkermann (SAUC - Journal V1 - N1 2015) [2] is about reclamation of street art.
The main methodological question is, how is it possible to carry out this research in such a way that its
results support the communities affected by gentrification to gain a voice? The experimental method of
participatory video and digital storytelling will be applied with the target of producing a participation
webdocu, accompanied by a locally exhibited video installation
A paper by Helena Elias (SAUC - Journal V1 - N1 2015) [3] is about contemporary murals of
osgemeos, nuca and bicicleta sem freio in lisbon. Recently there has been a resurgence of murals in several
European and American cities. Street art visual practices have privileged murals as one of the most suitable
formats to address public spaces. Despite the increasing recognition and significance of murals for the visual
culture of these cities, this contemporary urban art practice has not received much attention from recent
literature. This paper provides a literature review on contemporary murals, giving an account of their
popularity, their relation to location-specificity and global presence, as well as the means of dissemination of
such art expression

4. METHODOLOGY:
For this study, research was conducted to determine awareness of street art and its connection with city
streetscape. Participant’s response will be examined to understand how street art adds value to the public
space
4.1 Research design:
This study adopted a mixed methodology of qualitative and quantitative methods. The case-study
methodology is appropriate for this as the data collected is file-based. The qualitative data collected is
descriptive and, patterns are analysed related to the context. Reliance on the case study method as a
generalizable research mode for validation of evidence may have been criticized (Yin, 2003), yet it
contextualizes the examination of data at the micro-level (Zaidah,2007, p. 2). The questionary methodology
is appropriate for the data collection from the participants. As quantitative methods can analyse data by
macro population patterns such as social, demographic, etc. As an alternative to large-scale qualitative
research, case studies are practical when larger samples are difficult to obtain (Zaidah, 2007, p. 5). In such
cases, the research consists of different target groups randomly selected from the population to avoid bias
study. With a smaller sample it is easier to sought the valuable opinion and perception that would guid and
support the research question.

4.2 Mural intervention in Pune: enlivening bhori ali

Artists: A fresh coat
Concept: to revive the grandeur of the Peths and make the place a lot more appealing to tourists that visit.
Shutters of bhori ali get a makeover by Alefiya Kachwala and Annushka Hardikar with their army of artists
under the collective name 'a fresh coat ‘. They draw murals on the store shutter which, are inspired by the
nature of the store. The colour pallet of these streets is slowly expanding. They interact with the owner and
understand their needs, then design the mural accordingly and work on it all day on Sunday. They have the
right balance of art and design in their murals with bright colour combinations.
The popular stationary shop “Kings Paper” now flaunts a marvellous shutter with splashes of colour, with
images of a scissor, palette and pencil, (figure 5). The adjacent paint shop also has a marvellous shutter with
water colour tubes splatting, paint brushes, oil paint containers, (figure6). Both the murals naturally emulate
the energy of the store.

Figure 5: a view of stationary store shutter Figure 6: a view of paint store shutter
4.3 Man on a mission: kartikey sharma
Artist: Kartikey sharma
Concept: to identify walls that are dirty and abandoned and clean the nearby area and paint a mural on the
wall
Clean and paint project is a cleaning and beautifying drive carried out by the artist. which he did by painting
100 such (figure7,8) street art all around the city. mental health was the topic touched by the artist during
this project. “I have been suffering from it and I feel the calmest while painting and as selfish as it may
sound this whole project is keeping me calm and going especially after suffering from various anxiety and
panic attacks to an extent that my doctors want me to start medicines.” (he said in an interview).

Figure 7 Figure 8
4.4 Art revolution through its streets
Artist: Harshvardhan kadam
Concept: the mural is reflection of the space and its peoples.
“Every mural work that we have done is a reflection of the space and its people. We interact with the folks
and take their stories into account to develop our narrative. To begin a dialogue amidst the people, the
canvas should project something that every bystander can relate to,” (He said in an interview).
In 2017 he made history by creating the largest and the longest mural work in the country titled “songs of
the city” the mural stretch across the walls of yerwada jail unfolds a story that leads one through a
progressive narrative while lending a retrospective insight about the evolution of Pune, as it has come to
be.(figure9,10,11). This mural was commissioned by Pune municipal corporation and Pune biennial
foundation. It was finished in 40 days with a small crew of 5 people.

Figure 9 Figure 10

Figure 11 magnanimous mural stretching over 320x7m. Laced with metaphors throughout, one can find
episodes from the history of the city that have been ichnographically laid out.

“Even the mural undergoes a lot of transformation. As civilisations evolve, so does the level of articulation.
Stylistically, these metaphors have been maintained. A hint of the violence that was the 1961 floods of Pune
has been added, controlled to maintain the rhythm that is consistent throughout the vast stretch,”
- Harshvardhan kadam

4.5 The beginning: Pune’s street art project at Kasba Peth

in 2012 a gathering was organised by Harshvardhan kadam in pune for various artists to bring colour to the
otherwise dull public spaces in the city and then this collaboration went on to become pune street art project
and after its inauguration street has started appearing in most unusual places in the city.
The man’s face (figure 12) Kelly Darragh, Australia
Concept- unknown
Geometric Abductions (figure 13,14) Miles Toland from USA
description - paintings that captures the euphoric playfulness of transcending space and time. Harmonic
geometries echo the form of a human body that has suddenly dematerialized into a lucid moment the
remaining forms of the clothing recalls a mixed feeling of flying, falling, and abduction
Crocodile mural (figure 15) Amitabh Kumar
description - The river marks the old city from the new - compactly dividing the two Punes that exist as one.
Echoing this tension, the mural marks the point where after the 1961 floods a large section of the population
crossed over from the old city to create a new Pune. The city continues to grow. On the banks of the Mutha
watching over an unchanging city hold its own against the shimmering lights from across the river
 Figure 12 Figure 13 Figure 14

Figure 15
4.6 DATA COLLECTION:
Architecture students as well as local citizens ranging between 18 -60 years were targeted for this research.
The reson for chosing the participants groups are as follows:
a) local students aged between 18-25years were selected for the their sence of familarity with
surroundings.
b) Local citizens aged between 25-60 years were selcted from art and non-art bacgrounds to keep the
study fair
For the survey, total 40 questionnaires were distributed for the purpose of data collection between the two
groups. Respondents were approached through social media.

5. RESULTS AND ANALYSIS:

40 questionaries were collected, indicating a response rate of 100%, of which 60% (24) participants were
male and; 40% (16) were females. The majority ranged from 18-25 years (55%) of age and, the minority
ranged from 25-60 years (45%) of age.
5.1 SURVEY RESULTS:
For the first survey question regarding the preference for a street mural over blank walls, 90% of the
participants chose street murals over blank walls, and 10% were unsure about it, which shows street mural's
ability to gain public attention. (figure16)
For the second survey question regarding vandalism due to unauthorized street art, 45% of participants
disagreed while; 37.5% of participants agreed and 17.5% were unsure about it, which shows the acceptance
of unauthorized street art in the city. (figure17)

would you prefer street murals over Is street art act of vandalisum?
blank walls?
neutral 10%
neutral 10%

no 45%
no 0%

yes 90% yes 18%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

Figure 16 Figure 17
In perceiving street art as an integral part of the city streetscape, the result indicates the same. For the third
and fourth questions, 50% agreed, 35% strongly agreed(figure18) that street art has become an integral part
of the city streetscape while 87.5% agreed(figure19) that street murals are the right format to promote the
culture and heritage of the city.

Has street art as an integral part of the Are street murals right formate to
city streetscape? promote culture and heritage of the city?

disagree 2.50% neutral 12.5%

neutral 12.5%
no 0%
agree 35%

strongly agree 50% yes 87.5%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Figure 18 Figure 19

Street art is a blend of information and experimental artworks and is a living aspect of the surrounding area
which affects people. For the fifth question, 100% of the participants feel positive about street art(figure20).
For the sixth question, 42.5% strongly agree, 42.5% agreed that street mural does help local
artists(figure21).

How does these artworks affects you? Does street art help local artists?

disagree 2.50%
neutral 0%
neutral 12.5%

no 0% agree 42.5%

yes 100% strongly agree 42.5%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 120% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

Figure 20 Figure 21

6. CONCLUSION:
There is little documentation about street art in the city considering its growth and popularity among the
masses. Street art has become an integral part of the city's streetscape. It should be encouraged by the local
authorities which, will help in developing a strong base to cultivate local creative talent.

7. REFERANCE:
1. Gunnell, K. (2010). Street art: Its display in public space and issues within a municipality (Theses
and Dissertations: Paper 1284). Louisiana: The University of New Orleans.
2. Anderson, J. (2009) Understanding Cultural Geography Places and Traces. London: Routledge
3. Lekshmi Priya s (2017) How one pune artist is paving way for an art revolution through its street,
The Better India.
4. Siddhartha Joshi (2015) Pune’s street art project at Kasba Peth , pune ,THE WANDERER
5. Zainab kantawala (2017) walls come alive with the Ganeshotsav spirit, Times Of INDIA.
6. Sahana Iyer (2019) Artists revive heritage at bohri aali to attract more visitor and enliven the space,
outlook travellers
7. Yin, R. K. (2003). Case study research: Design and methods (2nd Ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
Publications.
8. Zaidah, Z. (2007, June). Case study as a research method. Jurnal Kemanusiaan, 9. Retrieved from
http://fba.aiub.edu/Files/Uploads/OPM110044.pdf