St+art India Launch the Sassoon Dock Art Project, Mumbai 2017

St+art India Foundation today announced the launch of the Sassoon Dock Art Project as part of the St+art Mumbai 2017 Urban Art Festival. The Sassoon Dock Art Project is an experiential exhibition which will see the creation of site-specific installations, murals, audiovisual experiences, screenings, talks and curated tours in an unconventional space of one of the busiest docks of Mumbai, nestled at the tip of Colaba.

SpY, St+art Sassoon Dock Art Project , Mumbai, India 2017.

Over the next 2 months, the 142 year old space of Sassoon Dock will be transformed into a public art exhibition and see thirty Indian and international artists between November 11-December 30.

“Expanding at a very fast pace the city that never sleeps has spots lost in time. Everyone in Mumbai knows of Sassoon Dock but very few have ever stepped in. The aim of the Sassoon Dock Art Project is to unlock an area which is ready to be discovered, enlightening its narratives through art interventions of international and unique Indian artists. The Sassoon Dock Art Project is an ecosystem of its own to experience in an overall dialogue between the finest contemporary global urban art and the deepest local traditions.” Giulia Ambrogi, Co-Founder & Festival Curator, St+art India Foundation

Artists invited are; Akash Raj Halankar (IN), Arthat Collective (IN), Asim Waqif (IN) & Lek (FR), Avinash Kumar (IN), AWP (FR), Clemens Behr (DE), Curiot (MX), Darren Soh (SG), Do & Khatra (IN), Faizan Khatri (IN), Furqan Jawed (IN), Guido Van Helten (AU) Hanif Kureshi (IN), Hanisha Tirumalasetty (IN) Inkbrushnme (IN)(Around the dock), Inside Out Project (FR), LIVIL (AT), Pierre Guyot (IN), Poornima Sukumar & Sadhna Prasad (IN), Sajid Wajid Sheikh (IN), Sameer Kulavoor (IN), Shilo Shiv Suleman (IN) Spy (SP) (Around the dock) Tahska (IN), Tan Zi Xi (SG), The Big Fat Minimalist (IN), The Fearless Collective (IN), The Yok & Sheryo (SG) and Vibhor Yadav (IN).

“Like every year, we yet again hope to add a bit of vibrance to the city and uplift the moods, spirits and lives of the Mumbaikars. We want to take art to the masses and make it accessible to a wider range of spectators. The idea is to open spaces to dialogues, conversations and culture creation through the lens of the city.” Mr. Amit Syngle, Asian Paints Ltd.

There will be special schedules across weekends in November where the exhibition will transform into a pop-up cultural hub for various creative communities to come together. These weekends will see special programing with the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), Institut Francais and Bonjour India.

With the intent of creative and cultural exchange between India and Singapore, Sassoon Dock Art Project will see the Singapore Weekender with several Singaporean artists in association with Singapore Tourism Board’s new brand Passion Made Possible. Between November 17-19 Sassoon Dock will see artworks by artists such as The Yok & Sheryo…

and Tan Zi Xi who brought ‘Plastic Ocean’ to the dock …

The weekend with Bonjour India and Institut Français between November 24-26 will bring to the city iconic French photographer/ artist JR’s global participatory project ‘Inside Out Project’ whose large format street paste-up project celebrates identity and amplifies untold stories. The project will celebrate the vibrant and diverse fishermen communities of Sassoon Dock through photo blowups of portraits. This will be an extension of JR’s Inside Out Project whose work deals with commitment, freedom, identity and limits through close-up black and white portraits.

Photographer/ Visual artist Akshat Nauriyal, who is also the Co-Founder of St+art India Foundation, spent the initial weeks of October researching the complexities of the Sassoon Dock area, getting in touch with local community leaders to get a sense of the diverse socio-cultural intricacies of the space. Through his research he found the region to be inhabited predominantly by the Koli, the Banjaara and the Ghati fishermen and women communities all co-existing in the micro economy of Sassoon Dock.

There will be a film screening about the project where Nauriyal will take people through the format and complexities of the project, followed by the screening of JR’s film ‘Women are heroes’.

The weekend will also see a talk by urban designers Faizan Khatri, AWP, Ayaz Basrai and Sameep Padora. Ella + Pitr, the French duo famous for creating art in aerially-viewed spaces will talk about their practices, choices and secrets behind their art interventions. Lek, famous for reclaiming abandoned public spaces for art will conduct a graffiti workshop that outlines the process and techniques behind graffiti art.

“Institut français India has a long-standing relationship with St+art India Foundation. With Bonjour India it has developed into an even stronger partnership. St+art Urban Art Festival will animate Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Chandigarh with social innovation and urban art. Local and international artists will create works on site inspired by local stories and materials. Together these will tell each city their own stories. With murals, graffiti, audio-visual experiences, this tale of two countries will come together in one Indo-French moment.” Dr. Bertrand de Hartingh, French Embassy in India

St+art India, with the support of artists and international friendships have now transformed the disused Sassoon Dock into an outstanding Art Project, that represents the local lives of the people, and breathes fresh air into the forgotten docklands of Mumbai.

Check back to graffitistreet, and follow St+art on Facebook for updates at Sassoon Dock Art Project 2017.

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