Travel and Art!!
I returned from Jammu, the city of temples on 2nd October and was off to a beautiful heritage village, Garli in Kangra valley on the following day. This has been October so far. The latest is that I have started a ‘Travel & Art Series’ which aims to capture everything related to art that I come across upon during my travels. Moreover, I also want to draw attention to the fact that art can be a great way of transforming a place, adding more beauty to it and making it more attractive for tourism purpose. I love to travel for discovering local artworks and I am sure there are many others who would love to do too.
My trip to Jammu was strictly personal and I had decided that I will only indulge in the family wedding. But the moment, our car drove through the road around hotel Asia, the multitude of colors on the walls on both sides caught my attention. There were some amazing drawings on the wall. In no time, I was sure that I was returning to the street soon after the wedding. On the third day when the functions were over, I was back with my camera to capture the fun. While I walked from one end to another, I had a chance to talk to few artists too who were giving final touches to their paintings. I was pleased to learn that Jammu Municipal Corporation had organized an open wall painting competition to mark the third anniversary of Swachh Bharat Mission as Swachhata Hi Sewa. Had I known before that there were 3 days to make a wall painting, I would have participated too. The entries were very interesting and I was amazed to see the creativity.
3 days Wall Painting Competition in Jammu
The participants were supposed to paint on one of these themes –Swachh Bharat Mission, Smart City Jammu, Nature and Environment, social messages, Art, Culture & Heritage of Jammu. There were school kids to college students to families to established local artists who had put up their work. Most interestingly, each one had tried to live up to one social message in an unique way. What really impressed me was the enthusiasm and the great level of participation that had poured in. The locals had taken it utmost sincerely and had splashed the city with beautiful colors and messages. I must applaud the organizers as well as everyone who participated and made it successful.
I love traveling to places for art and street art is my favorite. I was very excited to discover an abundance of it at one place. Some of the paintings gave an insight about the city too. Others had strongly put across messages like female foeticide, crime against women, drug abuse, pollution, rape and unclean surroundings. If you know the flyover around Hotel Asia in Jammu city, I am sure you will know where to find these freshly painted murals.
I will share all the wall paintings that I stumbled upon in the city. Let me share the first set of pictures that were freshly done during the competition.
I am sure you were touched by the deep hidden meanings of these paintings. My favorite was the one which says ‘ Real Men Don’t Rape’. Tell me which one was your favorite!!
Happy Travelling!!
Wow! This street art is really powerful! Each one has a great message. What a great way to spend your trip.
This painting competition in Jammu actually is a depiction of a commoner’s mind & heart. The artwork does speaks volumes.
These are beautiful artworks. Jammu certainly has some talented artists. I love how they use art to get these powerful messages across. The “Real Men Don’t Rape” artwork was my favourite too.
I love this art series which you have started off late. I have never stayed in Jammu for long. But the next time I am there, I will keep my eyes peeled for the street art. Some of these are brilliant.
What a lovely initiative to travel and capture art. I loved your concept. Glad to know that Swacch Bharat mission is doing so good for Jammu city. The roads look immensely clean. Loved the colorful walls everywhere. All of the paintings have something to say. Thanks for sharing this.
There is so much street art / wall art in Jammu. I appreciate the effort you put in walking to all these murals. It must have been interesting to see the artists at work – some of their artwork is very impressive.
What a cool initiative to make the city of Jammu even more beautiful. Every single work shows how talented these artists are and I’m truely amazed with how gorgeously done they are. Lucky you got an opportunity to check these out during your trip to Jammu.
We have had similar initiatives in Thane for the past few years and these paintings don’t just brighten up the streets but also lift the moods of passersby
I love coming across murals and street art in general when traveling. There’s so much available in Jammu! Most of the time I come across artsy abstract murals but the ones you captured all possess a powerful message which I think is so great.
I love street art, especially when it has a reason for it, a political movement or opinion! It tells you so much about the country and community 🙂