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One of the most important aspects of public art is that it is truly democratic in its expression and encapsulates a wide array of voices that often get unheard in the confines of a gallery. Artists across the globe are adopting the walls and floors of a space as their canvases and are representing communities and voices within the urban fabric. This form of art is extremely significant, particularly in our current political and cultural paradigm as it communicates injustices and dissent. One such initiative, the St+Art India Foundation is a non-profit organization that works on art projects in public spaces. The aim of the foundation is to make art accessible to a wider audience by taking it out of the conventional gallery space and embedding it within the cities we live in - making art truly democratic and for everyone. Since its inception in 2014, St+art has organized numerous street art festivals and public art projects across India in cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Calcutta, Goa, and more.
Art and sports are two parallels that play pivotal roles in acutely representing and organically connecting people. The St+art India Foundation has partnered with brands like Adidas and Asian Paints and strives for change as it weaves these two parallels into one thread and uses the collective power of both to communicate two supremely powerful themes — that of equality and representation.
The collaborative effort aims to alleviate gender imbalance in sports by influencing a change in an existing mindset that propagates themes that have men more aligned with sports than their female counterparts. The art piece celebrating gender inclusivity was unveiled on the International Women’s Day on March 08. The revamped basketball court in one of the most iconic neighbourhoods in Mumbai reflects the changing narrative around women in sports by conveying an impactful message of equality. The court highlights the bold and insightful claim of how whether it is boys or girls, ‘Sport doesn’t discriminate’. This is a unique piece that commands a defunct or conventional space and transforms it into a site of expression, creation, and justice.
The boldness of the court is bound to set precedent for other such institutions that rely on an incorrect and antiquated perception that girls are not equal to boys. Featuring bold and colourful typographic artwork by artist Khatra, the spirit of inclusivity in sports has been embedded on the school’s very own basketball turf with an impactful message of equality that reads ‘GIRLS = BOYS’. Khatra is well-known for his body of work including calligraphy, typography and abstract works amongst others. For this special project, he has used an impactful yet minimalist approach for his design, working with variations in typography to illustrate the concepts of equality and inclusion in a comprehensible manner. The iconic urban art intervention at St. Andrews High School is not only a beautiful addition to Mumbai’s burgeoning street art scene but also represents the importance of changing mindsets when it comes to sport, street, and urban culture. By bringing together different mediums, this base sits as an edifice of ‘change’ in the community as well as stands as a symbol of equality and inclusivity.
The initiative is being taken under the larger project base of ‘St+art Courts’ which seeks to enliven playgrounds in our country with urban contemporary art interventions. Contributing to the foundation’s vision to create art that is inclusive and capable of reaching a wide audience, St+art Courts strive to bring popular spots by the locals using artistic means and utilize the immense power of public art to further the spirit that both sports and community building encompass.
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