Public art in Mumbai

written by nathan 

Lively, vivacious Bombay - the heartbeat of India.

Public art and public-ness are everywhere in Mumbai (Bombay). Mumbai is a city which mirrors our modern times. Even its name is a willingness for change. Mumbai is Bombay.

In Mumbai, we stumbled upon the School of Art near V.T. station in downtown. Here they have mural art and spray can (graffiti art) covering the public walls. These canvasses are painted by some great students.

One of the pieces I really love is a graffiti collage of murals in which a character from one mural gently reaches around the corner and pinches a car in an adjoining mural. It symbolized for me an often playful and communal character at work in public art.

Our friends Jenny and Hank Sultan of San Francisco would love the murals of Bombay. They are longtime supporters of public art. Jenny and Hank are some of our favorite friends to think of when we stumble

upon great public art. Hank has been a long time supporter of Precita Eyes, in the Mission District of San Francisco whose mission it is to produce and preserve mural arts. Jenny and Hank would love the murals

surrounding the large campus courtyard at the Arts University in Mumbai. Even more than this, they would love the kilometers of murals painted on the walls running beside train tracks around Mumbai.

What can we each do to preserve and promote more public arts in our community?