The Story
OrganizerStreet art and muralism in India have grown rapidly since the 2010s, with cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad developing significant mural cultures. However, the street art scene is predominantly male, and women muralists have fewer opportunities for large-scale public commissions. Ladies First was created specifically to address this: by dedicating an entire festival to women street artists, it creates a concentrated moment of feminist public visual culture that transforms Dehradun's walls while also building networks and visibility for women in the street art ecosystem. Dehradun, as a mid-sized Himalayan city that is less art-world-saturated than the metros, offers a context where the murals can genuinely transform public space rather than add to an already-dense visual landscape.
Ladies First is India's only women-centred street art festival, occupying a unique position in the country's growing public art ecosystem. The street art world's gender gap is significant, and a festival that addresses it directly while creating lasting public art in a mid-sized Indian city has genuine cultural and social impact.
Visit Ladies First, India's only women-centred street-art festival, to watch women muralists transform Dehradun's public walls in a scene still overwhelmingly male. Combining large-scale public art with a clear commitment to gender equity, it brings colour and new voices to the city while carving out space for women in India's fast-growing but lopsided street-art culture.
