If you still feel sore about being trashed for treating your house walls as a crayon canvas, this is the time for redemption. Bring your set of paints on a Sunday and you will find all the walls you thought you could transform as a child. The Delhi Wall project, modelled on the heels of the Mumbai Wall project that took place last year, will give you a chance to go wild with colours.
Spearheaded by a small team of creative individuals, who just want to make their city prettier, this project aims to transform mundane looking walls into pieces of art and taking the community along as they do so. So far, they have managed to turn three dirty, spit ridden walls into frames that passers-by can’t stop smiling at. Starting with a small wall in Uday Park, to the bright blue, sea themed canvas at Hauz Khas to the travel inspired façade of the Kunzun Café, this tiny revolution of sorts is moving steadily week after week.
Kanika Shah, an art director and one of the founder members is surprised that no one took it up for almost a year after a similar happening in Mumbai. “The idea is to give life to one’s surroundings as we work along with the community. Though we like to paint what feels right, we usually keep the area around the wall in mind, while choosing a theme to work with,” she says while informing that they steer clear of any religious or political influences and do not allow any obscenities or abuses to be written on the walls.
Having decided to continue this project for as long as possible, they soon want to move from private to public spaces. But cutting through the red tape remains a problem as photographers and members of the core group, Aditya Kapoor tells us. “It’s government walls that are most in need of a makeover however getting permission to paint them is a problem, we always get caught between one paper pusher to another. But hopefully, we’ll soon find the right contacts to get us started,” he tells us informing that they are already getting tons of offers to transform several walls in the city.
But if you an art rookie or not very comfortable with painting, then don’t fret. Most participants are worried about the same too, however it’s hardly a painter’s pet project, we are duly informed by Inahita Singh, a graphic designer by profession. “One can always fill in large spaces of colour and there are always there to help. Anyway it’s about spending a Sunday creating something beautiful, which for most would be spent, doing nothing,” she says adding that she would consider the project successful when people don’t wait for anyone to organise things, but instead pick up paint and brushes and transform a wall they think needs change. However, for Smriti George, a professional with an ad agency and another member, it’s more about giving something back to the city. “I am not a painter myself, but I wanted to do something, which would change the face of Delhi and have fun doing it. So, when Kanika suggested the idea, I agreed immediately,” she tells us.
You can contact them through their facebook page which goes by the name of The Wall project – Delhi and join the over 1,200 member list.