The Story
OrganizerWhen St+art India was founded in 2012, public art in Indian cities was largely limited to government hoardings, religious paintings, and occasional government-commissioned sculpture. The idea that city walls could be the canvas for serious, curated contemporary art practice, produced by artists of international standing, was novel in the Indian context.
The Lodhi Art District, developed with the Delhi government from around 2016, became St+art India's most significant achievement. Lodhi Colony, a planned neighbourhood of government bungalows in south Delhi, provided wall space at scale. The murals commissioned there include work by Indian artists Daku, Yantr, and Pooja Iranna alongside international artists, creating a permanent outdoor gallery that attracts visitors from across Delhi and from other countries.
St+art India's annual festivals create temporary events around the permanent installations, with new murals added, community programming organised, and public attention drawn to the neighbourhoods involved. The organisation has also worked in Mumbai's Dharavi, Bengaluru's streets, and Hyderabad's old city, demonstrating that public art can engage with communities across different urban contexts.
The organisation has increasingly worked with underrepresented communities, commissioning artists from marginalised backgrounds and creating murals in low-income neighbourhoods as well as in upmarket areas like Lodhi Colony.
St+art India has transformed India's relationship with public art. Before its founding, serious contemporary art in India was almost entirely confined to gallery and museum spaces accessible to a small, educated, urban elite. The Lodhi Art District and St+art India's other interventions have made contemporary art visible, free, and geographically distributed across cities. The Lodhi Art District is now one of Delhi's most popular cultural destinations, drawing visitors who would not otherwise engage with contemporary art.
St+art India has democratised access to contemporary art in India by taking it out of galleries and onto city walls. The Lodhi Art District is now one of Delhi's most visited cultural destinations. As Indian cities continue to grow and urbanise, the model of transforming public space through art has increasing relevance.
Created the Lodhi Art District in New Delhi, India's first permanent outdoor contemporary art gallery. Founded India's leading public art organisation. Commissioned murals by leading Indian and international artists across multiple cities. Made contemporary art free and accessible in public spaces.
