Hyderabad's Billboards Just Got A Hard-Hitting Makeover From Daku

The St+art India Foundation is well known for their daring, public art installations. This NGO has a collective goal to take art out of the galleries and onto the streets where it can be accessible to a wider audience. Their new venture, the Artvertising Project in Hyderabad has taken this idea to the next level by fusing ironic lettering with the visual advertising spaces of an already overcrowded city.

Two well known names have collaborated to create this hard-hitting series, Dia Mehta Bhupal and Daku. Though they are from very different backgrounds, they had a similar outlook on the nature of public spaces and how messages within them can be interpreted for artistic inquiry. The tongue-in-cheek slogans hit back at the inane and sometimes immoral nature of Indian advertising. In the project 9 hoardings were repurposed into personal canvases, the first five showcase Daku’s work in some of the busiest parts of town such as Parade Ground and the Khairatabad flyover.

Daku’s true identity has always been shrouded in mystery but much like another pseudonymous street artist we can think of, his work has become so much more iconic than a name. His very name, Daku - meaning dacoit - refers to the illegality of his work, like dacoits stole from people, he steals spaces and with his work redefines their very existence.

These four images are Daku’s contribution to the Artvertising Project, keep a eye out because Dia Mehta Bhupal’s are set to follow soon!