After Charminar, pearls and biriyani, Hyderabad now boasts of a unique typographical structure—Luv Hyd. This is the second such structure in the country after Luv Mumbai.
Made of metal by artist Hitesh Malaviya and Hanif Kureshi, this structure has been installed on the Tank Bund. IT minister K.T. Rama Rao, who inaugurated the structure, thinks this is another place to take a selfie. The Tank Bund was always the promenade for Hyderabad and Secunderabad and on weekends traffic is stopped on the bridge allowing people to enjoy the breeze.
The typographical structure has a specific font and the St+Art Festival holds the copyright for the same. 'Luv' is written in Devanagari script and the symbol of heart has also been used. It has been given a red colour to apparently suggest passion. 'Hyd' is in plain white.
The installation was the culmination of a 24-day festival which started on November 1 and went on till November 25. While Hyderabad is conducting its first ever street art festival, this was the sixth edition for the St+Art Festival, Delhi group. They, along with the Krishnakrithi Foundation and art@Telangana group, conducted the festival.
"Wall paintings are not new to India or our art scene," says Prashant Lahoti, Trustee of Krishnakrithi Foundation, who also runs the Kalakrithi Art Gallery. Wanting to regenerate some public parts of the city, they focussed on the Martha region, which is abutting the Necklace Road. Thirteen artists from Telangana were selected through a competition and a workshop was conducted to introduce them to this form of art.
Arjun Bahl, co-founder of St+Art Festival says their idea is to take more such projects and make art more democratic. "One message is to keep the walls clean, yes, but the other is to start a conversation about the walls and the art. These days one is so busy; there is no time to hold a conversation and this will bring people together," says Arjun.
The local people got together and helped around even as nine artists from abroad and 13 from Telangana worked at this art. There were three French, two Serbians, one from Netherlands and three more from other parts of India who worked hand in hand with the local people to beautify the place.
"We did not want famous people. We wanted local people to get involved and in fact encouraged the lack of knowledge where art is concerned," says Arjun. The idea is that the people would be able to vent their feelings, free and pure and put it on the wall.
Buildings and public walls were spruced up to give it a new, colourful look and also to promote street art. "Public places have to be regenerated," says Prashant, and in that effort this festival seems to have made a difference.
